“And paying it now,� admitted Trench, “but for how long? Why can they pay ten per cent when the others only pay four and a half? I’d put my money in the four and a half per cent concerns and feel safe. When a firm offers such an inducement, it’s not apt to be sound; it isn’t legitimate business, as I see it.�
Todd put the papers slowly back into his pocket. “Mebbe you’re right,� he admitted, “but they’re all in it; I reckon the whole East Mountain district’s in it, an’ half of Eshcol. They say it’s Jacob Eaton’s.�
Trench strummed lightly on the desk with his fingers. “So they say,� he assented without emotion.
Todd ruminated, cutting off a piece of tobacco. “Eaton’s bent on lickin’ Yarnall out of the nomination, an’ we don’t want Aylett again. I believe I’ll take to your ticket,� he remarked.
Trench looked at him, and his full regard had a singularly disconcerting effect; Diana herself had felt it. “Vote for Peter Mahan,� he said coolly.
“See here, Trench,� said Todd abruptly, “I believe you’d make a man vote for the devil if you looked at him like that!�
Caleb laughed, and his laugh was as winning as his smile; both were rare. “I’m only suggesting Mahan,� he said.
“We’ve never had a Republican, not since five years before the war. That was before I was born,� Todd replied. “It would sweep out every office-holder in the State, I reckon.�
“Where’s your civil service?� asked Trench dryly.
“It’s rotten,� said Todd. “There ain’t a man in now that ain’t an Eaton or an Aylett runner. I’d a damned sight rather hunt a flea in a feather-bed than try to catch Jacob Eaton when he’s dodging in politics.�