And it came upon him like thunder out of a clear sky.

Yet the thing might not be so important as Mrs.Hopkins feared.
Very thoughtfully he unfolded the morning paper, and the next moment uttered a roar of wrath and vexation.

Briggs was one of his stand-bys, and the _Herald_ heretofore had always supported him; yet here across the first page were big black letters saying: _"Vote for Forbes!"_ And the columns were full of articles and paragraphs praising Forbes and declaring that he could and would do more for the district than Hopkins.
"I must see Briggs," muttered the Honorable Erastus.

"He's tryin' to make me put up that hundred--an' I guess I'll have to do it." He looked over the other newspapers which were heaped upon his desk in the sitting-room, and was disgusted to find all but one of the seven papers in the district supporting Forbes.

Really, the thing began to look serious.