bring him in, though,« said Mr Sircome, the great
miller. »He's an uncommon fellow for carrying things through. I know he brought
me through that suit about my weir; it cost a pretty penny, but he brought me
through.«
    »It's a bit of a pill for him, too, having to turn Radical,« said Mr Wace.
»They say he counted on making friends with Sir Maximus, by this young one
coming home and joining with Mr Philip.«
    »But I'll bet a penny he brings Transome in,« said Mr Sircome. »Folks say he
hasn't got many votes hereabout; but towards Duffield, and all there, where the
Radicals are, everybody's for him. Eh, Mr Christian? Come - you're at the
fountainhead - what do they say about it now at the Manor?«
    When general attention was called to Christian, young Joyce looked down at
his own legs and touched the curves of his own hair, as if measuring his own
approximation to that correct copy of a gentleman. Mr Wace turned his head to
listen for Christian's answer with that tolerance of inferiority which becomes
men in places of public resort.
    »They think it will be a hard run between Transome and Garstin,« said
Christian. »It depends on Transome's getting plumpers.«
    »Well, I know I shall not split for Garstin,« said Mr Wace. »It's nonsense
for Debarry's voters to split for a Whig. A man's either a Tory or not a Tory.«
    »It seems reasonable there should be one of each side,« said Mr Timothy
Rose. »I don't like showing favour either way. If one side can't lower the
poor's rates and take off the tithe, let the other try.«
    »But there's this in it, Wace,« said Mr Sircome. »I'm not altogether against
the Whigs. For they don't want to go so far as the Radicals do, and when they
find they've slipped a bit too far, they'll hold on all the tighter. And the
Whigs have got the upper hand now, and it's no use fighting with the current. I
run with the -«
    Mr Sircome checked himself, looked furtively at Christian, and, to divert
criticism, ended with - »eh, Mr Nolan?«
    »There have been eminent Whigs, sir. Mr Fox was a Whig,