There had been a strong and acrimonious controversy over the route which the road should take into and through the village.

There was the party of the "nabobs" (as they were characterized by Mr.Harum) and their following, and the party of the "village people," and the former had carried their point; but now the road was an accomplished fact, and most of the bitterness which had been engendered had died away.

Yet the struggle was still matter for talk.
"Did I ever tell you," said David, as he and his cashier were sitting in the rear room of the bank, "how Lawyer Staples come to switch round in that there railroad jangle last spring ?" "I remember," said John, "that you told me he had deserted his party, and you laughed a little at the time, but you did not tell me how it came about." "I kind o' thought I told ye," said David.
"No," said John, "I am quite sure you did not." "Wa'al," said Mr.Harum, "the' was, as you know, the Tenaker-Rogers crowd wantin' one thing, an' the Purse-Babbit lot bound to have the other, an' run the road under the other fellers' noses.

Staples was workin' tooth an' nail fer the Purse crowd, an' bein' a good deal of a politician, he was helpin' 'em a good deal.

In fact, he was about their best card.