"There are moments when a man sees through a gla.s.s, darkly," he answered, kissing her again. "This is a solemn decision for us, Selma.
Heaven has willed that you should save me from my own errors, and my own blindness."
"We shall be very happy, James. You will be chosen Senator, and all will be as it should be. The clouds on my horizon are one by one pa.s.sing away, and justice is prevailing at last. What do you suppose I heard to-day? Pauline Littleton is to marry Dr. Page. Mrs. Earle told me so.
Pauline has written to the trustees that after the first of next January she will cease to serve as president of Wetmore; that by that time the college will be running smoothly, so that a successor can take up the work. There is a chance now that the trustees will choose a genuine educator for the place--some woman of spontaneous impulses and a large outlook on life. Pauline"s place is by the domestic hearth. She could never have much influence on progress."
"I do not know her very well," said Lyons. "But I know this, Selma, you would be just the woman for the place if you were not my wife. You would make an ideal president of a college for progressive women."
"I am suited for the work, and I think I am progressive," she admitted.
"But that, of course, is out of the question for me as a married woman and the wife of a United States Senator. But I am glad, James, to have you appreciate my strong points."
On the following day Lyons vetoed the gas bill. His message to the Legislature described it as a measure which disposed of a valuable franchise for nothing, and which would create a monopoly detrimental to the rights of the public. This action met with much public approval. One newspaper expressed well the feeling of the community by declaring that the Governor had faced the issue squarely and shown the courage of his well-known convictions. The Benham _Sentinel_ was practically mute. It stated merely in a short editorial that it was disappointed in Governor Lyons, and that he had played into the hands of the demagogues and the sentimentalists. It suggested to the Legislature to show commendable independence by pa.s.sing the bill over his veto. But this was obviously a vain hope.
The vote in the House against the veto not merely fell short of the requisite two-thirds, but was less than a plurality, showing that the action of the chief magistrate had reversed the sentiment of the Legislature. The force of Stringer"s opposition was practically killed by the Governor"s course. He had staked everything on the chance that Lyons would see fit to sign the bill. When the party caucus for the choice of a candidate for Senator was held a few days later, his followers recognized the hopelessness of his ambition and prevailed on him to withdraw his name from consideration. Lyons was elected Senator of the United States by a party vote by the two branches of the Legislature a.s.sembled in solemn conclave. Apparently Elton had realized that opposition was useless, and that he must bide his time for revenge.
Booming cannon celebrated the result of the proceedings, and Selma, waiting at home on the River Drive, received a telegram from the capital announcing the glad news. Her husband was United States Senator, and the future stretched before her big with promise. She had battled with life, she had suffered, she had held fast to her principles, and at last she was rewarded.
Lyons returned to Benham by the afternoon train, and a salute of one hundred guns greeted him on his arrival. He walked from the station like any private citizen. Frequent cheers attended his progress to his house.
In the evening the shops and public buildings were illuminated, and the James O. Lyons Cadets, who considered themselves partly responsible for his rapid promotion, led a congratulatory crowd to the River Drive. The Senator-elect, in response to the music of a serenade, stepped out on the balcony. Selma waited behind the window curtain until the enthusiasm had subsided; then she glided forth and showed herself at his elbow. A fresh round of cheers for the Senator"s wife followed. It was a glorious night. The moon shone brightly. The street was thronged by the populace, and glittered with the torches of the cadets. Lyons stood bareheaded.
His large, round, smooth face glistened, and the moonbeams, bathing his chin beard, gave him the effect of a patriarch, or of one inspired. He raised his hand to induce silence, then stood for a moment, as was his habit before speaking, with an expression as though he were struggling with emotion or busy in silent prayer.
"Fellow citizens of Benham," he began, slowly, "compatriots of the sovereign State which has done me to-day so great an honor, I thank you for this precious greeting. You are my const.i.tuents and my brothers. I accept from your hands this great trust of office, knowing that I am but your representative, knowing that my mission is to bear constant witness to the love of liberty, the love of progress, the love of truth which are enshrined in the hearts of the great American people. Your past has been ever glorious; your future looms big with destiny. Still leaning on the G.o.d of our fathers, to whom our patriot sires have ever turned, and whose favors to our beloved country are seen in your broad prairies tall with fruitful grain, and your mighty engines of commerce, I take up the work which you have given me to do, pledged to remain a democrat of the democrats, an American of the Americans."
Selma heard the words of this peroration with a sense of ecstasy. She felt that he was speaking for them both, and that he was expressing the yearning intention of her soul to attempt and perform great things. She stood gazing straight before her with her far away, seraph look, as though she were penetrating the future even into Paradise.