“No use in back-cappin’ a fellow that’s tryin’ to make somethin’ of himself,” said Bonner. “That ain’t good politics, nor good sense. Anything to him?”
“He offered me a salary of seventy-five dollars a month to take charge of his school,” said Jim.
“Well,” said Con, “we’ll be sorry to lose yeh, but you can’t turn down anything like that.”
“I don’t know,” said Jim. “I haven’t decided.”
Bonner scrutinized his face sharply, as if to find out what sort of game he was playing.
“Well,” said he, at last, “I hope you can stay with us, o’ course. I’m licked, and I never squeal. If the rist of the district can stand your kind of thricks, I can. And say, Jim”—here he grew still more mysterious—“if you do stay, some of us would like to have you be enough of a Dimmycrat to go into the next con’vintion f’r county superintendent.”
“Why,” replied Jim, “I never thought of such a thing!”
“Well, think of it,” said Con. “The county’s close, and wid a pop’lar young educator—an’ a farmer, too, it might be done. Think of it.”
It must be confessed that Jim was almost dazed at the number of “propositions” of which he was now required to “think”—and that Bonner’s did not at first impress him as having anything back of it but blarney. He was to find out later, however, that the wily Con had made up his mind that the ambition of Jim to serve the rural schools in a larger sphere might be used for the purpose of bringing to earth what he regarded as the soaring political ambitions of the Woodruff family.
To defeat the colonel in the defeat of his daughter when running for her traditionally-granted second term; to get Jim Irwin out of the Woodruff District by kicking him up-stairs into a county office; to split the forces which had defeated Mr. Bonner in his own school district; and to do these things with the very instrument used by the colonel on that sad but glorious day of the last school election—these, to Mr. Bonner, would be diabolically fine things to do—things worthy of those Tammany politicians who from afar off had won his admiration.