By Doyle's increasing sullenness she knew things were not going
well with him, and she found a certain courage in that, but she
knew him too well to believe that he would give up easily. And
she drew certain deductions from the newspapers she studied so
tirelessly. She saw the announcement of the unusual number of
hunting licenses issued, for one thing, and she knew the cover that
such licenses furnished armed men patrolling the country. The
state permitted the sale of fire-arms without restriction. Other
states did the same, or demanded only the formality of a signature,
never verified.
Would they never wake to the situation?
She watched the election closely. She knew that if Akers were
elected the general strike and the chaos to follow would be held
back until he had taken office and made the necessary changes in
the city administration, but that if he went down to defeat the
Council would turn loose its impatient hordes at once.
She waited for election day with burning anxiety. When it came
it so happened that she was left alone all day in the house. Early
in the morning Olga brought her a tray and told her she was going
out. She was changed, the Russian; she had dropped the mask of
sodden servility and stood before her, erect, cunningly intelligent
and oddly powerful.
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