AS soon as Gaston could leave the throngs of friends who were congratulating him on his remarkable speech and his certainty of election, he hastened to find Sallie.

“My lover, my king!” she cried impulsively as he clasped her in his arms.

“Your eyes kindled the fire in my soul and gave me the power to mould that crowd to my will!” he softly told her.

“It is sweet to hear you say that!”

“‘Now, my love, we are in an awful situation. What are we to do with the General storming around preparing for a grand wedding? What if that jailer gives out the news? McLeod can get it out of him if he ever suspects anything.”

“Don’t worry, dear. I ’ll manage everything. We’ve fixed the wedding on the Inauguration day—so you can’t be defeated. We will be busy day and night getting ready my trousseau, and issuing our invitations. Papa will never dream that one ceremony has been performed already. He need never know it until we are ready to tell him.”

“If he discovers it, he will swear I have tried to humiliate him, and he will never forgive it. Telegraph me if anything happens, and I will come immediately. I can’t see you for weeks in the campaign, but I will write to you every day.”

“His Excellency, the Governor of North Carolina!” she softly exclaimed with a dreamy look into his face. “My lover!”

&ldqu............