Carlton sank in his seat exhausted. He had come to the end of his resources. He knew only too well that he was short one vote. Joel Phipps with his sing-song voice did his work expeditiously. Four-fifths of the names had been called and Conway had not come with his promised relief. Carlton gave one last anxious look at the door. No one was in sight. He gave a sigh—the sigh of a defeated man, and waited in a perfunctory way for the conclusion of the roll call.
CHAPTER XXV A RACE AGAINST TIME
After their talk with John Carlton, Barry and Felix left the meeting room together, and, hurrying down the corridor, emerged on the plaza fronting the Southern side of the Capitol. The boy was all a-quiver with excitement.
"What did you mean by dumping all of those reports on John Carlton?" he asked.
Conway laughed joyously.
"That's food for thought. He must feed it out to the Committee by degrees."
"What good will it do?" asked Barry, skeptically.
"It will postpone the vote on the Cleverly bill."