CHAPTER XXVII
ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR FREE TRADE
Things had to go forward at Blackhampton in
spite of the Ukase, and forward they went right merrily.
The adoption of Philip was a fine stroke on the
part of the Rags, because the Blackhampton Rovers
had a following of about thirty thousand persons
weekly, and one and all of these acclaimed it as quite
the right policy. The famous inside right had had
in his day—which was not so very far off either—only
one superior in that responsible position, and he
was Steve Bloomer. If the Rag candidate could only
reproduce his form on a great occasion, he was bound
to go straight to the top of the poll.
A general election was expected in the autumn. Philip and Mary spent August at Trouville in order to prepare for the fray. Philip trained on the sands, and Mary composed speeches while she listened to the seductive strains of Monsieur Marly's Marine Orchestra. And then, when this delightful month was over, they went to Blackhampton in fighting trim; hired a house for three months on its outskirts, and set to work in grim earnest.
