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CHAPTER 7: Elections
TRUE/FALSE
2. Elections are important in a representative democracy because they allow citizens the opportunity to
reward and punish officeholders seeking reelection.
3. A candidate for the U.S. House or U.S. Senate secures the nomination of the Democratic Party by
winning the Democratic Party’s primary election.
4. An independent candidate with no affiliation to a party secures a place on the general election ballot by
first winning a primary contest that involves at least two other independent candidates.
5. A runoff election guarantees that the winning candidate has secured a majority of the vote.
6. The use of proportional allocation for convention delegates can cause the primary season to be more
competitive and last longer.
7. The electoral college accords each state a number of electoral votes, which are equal to the state’s
representation in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
10. Candidates usually appeal to voters by trying to educate the public and by making complex promises
about public policies.
11. The main reason for the expense of American political campaigns is the increased use of television
advertising.
12. Soft money contributions are donations that are used to help elect or defeat a particular candidate.
13. Because of high turnout in presidential election years, coattail effects from presidential candidates are
usually very powerful factors in determining election outcomes for candidates running for
congressional, state, or local office.
14. The authors of the text conclude that individual vote decisions in presidential and congressional
elections are typically made independent of each other.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
3. An election in which only registered members of a particular party can vote is called a(n):
a. open primary
b. blanket primary
c. general election
d. closed primary
e. runoff election
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Page 194 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Factual
4. An election in which any registered voter can participate in selecting a party nominee is called a(n):
a. open primary
b. blanket primary
c. general election
d. closed primary
e. runoff election
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 194 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Factual
5. Which of the following restrictions on voter eligibility is true for all Americans?
a. must be eighteen years old or older
b. cannot be mentally incompetent
c. must swear an oath to the Constitution
d. cannot be a convicted felon
e. cannot be in jail on Election Day
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 194 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Factual
8. In a typical election for the U.S. House or U.S. Senate, officeholders are elected:
a. in multimember districts by a plurality of the vote
b. in single-member districts by a plurality of the vote
c. in multimember districts by a majority of the vote
d. in single-member districts by a majority of the vote
e. in various different ways and formats that are determined by laws in each of the fifty states
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Page 195 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Applied
9. Any voting system in which the candidate with the most votes wins is called:
a. proportional voting
b. majority voting
c. plurality voting
d. democratic
e. republican
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Page 195 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Factual
11. Although touch-screen voting machines are becoming increasingly popular, these machines are
controversial for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
a. the costs of the machines
b. the potential for delays on Election Day
c. voter difficulties that often come with new technologies
d. concerns that the machines could be manipulated to change election outcomes
e. concerns that the machines could make it more difficult for the visually impaired to vote
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Page 195 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Conceptual
14. Election rules and how they are implemented by officials matter because:
a. there is no legal way to challenge the outcome of an election
b. in close races, small changes to rules can change electoral outcomes
c. an election must be held a second time if the rules are not followed
d. there are different rules that must be used if voter turnout is higher than expected
e. there are different rules that must be used if voter turnout is lower than expected
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Page 196 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Conceptual
15. Under what conditions are particular rules most likely to influence election results?
a. close races
b. open seat races
c. situations in which optical scan ballots are used
d. primary elections
e. general elections
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 196 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Applied
16. While the ________ use(s) proportional allocation rules in all primaries and caucuses, the ________
uses a combination of proportional allocation and winner-take-all to determine convention delegates.
a. Democratic Party; Republican Party
b. Republican Party; Democratic Party
c. states; electoral college
d. United States; European Union
e. European Union; United States
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Page 196 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Factual
17. Under the rules of proportional allocation, a candidate who received 40 percent of the vote in a state
with 50 delegates at stake would get roughly ________ delegates.
a. 0
b. 10
c. 20
d. 40
e. 50
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Page 196 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Applied
21. Which states do NOT allocate all of their electoral college votes to the winner of the state’s popular
vote?
a. Montana and Maine
b. Oregon and Montana
c. Nebraska and Oregon
d. Maine and Rhode Island
e. Nebraska and Maine
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Page 198 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Factual
22. Swing states are important to a presidential candidate’s general election strategy because:
a. they favor one party’s candidate over another, which saves the favored candidate money to
campaign elsewhere
b. they provide better opportunities for fund-raising
c. they can be ignored
d. they can potentially be won by either major-party candidate
e. they are always small states, so they do not provide that many electoral college votes
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Page 198 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Applied
23. What happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes?
a. The winner is then determined by the candidate who received the most popular votes.
b. The votes are recalculated after dropping out candidates with less than 1 percent of the
vote; this repeats until someone has a majority.
c. The House of Representatives decides who wins, with each state getting one vote, and
voting continues until someone gets a majority of the votes.
d. The Senate decides who wins, with each state getting one vote, and voting continues until
someone gets a majority of the votes.
e. Both the House and the Senate decide who wins with a simple majority vote.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Page 199 TOP: Procedures
MSC: Applied
24. After one election cycle ends, potential challengers for office in the next cycle immediately start
thinking about which of the following things?
a. which seats look vulnerable
b. how the economy affects them
c. how to get a poll in the field quickly to judge their name recognition
d. how to establish a permanent campaign
e. what their first campaign ad will be about
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Page 202 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
25. A district with no sitting legislator who runs for reelection is called:
a. an open seat
b. a closed seat
c. a party seat
d. a safe seat
e. a contested seat
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 202 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
26. The actions officeholders take throughout the election cycle to build support for their reelection is
called:
a. the political business cycle
b. the talent primary
c. the permanent campaign
d. the money primary
e. frontloading
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Page 202 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
27. Incumbent officeholders have various reasons for raising significant sums of money. One common
reason is that:
a. incumbent officeholders often face primary challengers and need money for two elections
b. high-quality potential challengers are less likely to run against the incumbent
c. outside interest groups will not contribute money to incumbents who lack significant sums
of money
d. incumbent officeholders can use any leftover campaign funds for personal use once they
retire
e. incumbent officeholders can transfer the money to lobbying firms, which in turn can repay
this favor later by hiring the incumbent officeholder when he or she retires from office
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Page 202 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Applied
28. Professional consultants are important in providing all of the following services to a candidate running
for office EXCEPT:
a. consultants help develop and execute campaign strategies
b. consultants manage and run public opinion polls
c. consultants coordinate campaign activities with Super PACs
d. consultants assemble ads and buy television time for the candidate
e. consultants handle media relations and talk with members of the media
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Page 203 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Applied
29. Because many voters know fairly little about congressional candidates, a common campaign strategy
is to:
a. improve the candidate’s name recognition among likely voters
b. educate voters about the important issues facing the district and nation
c. hold multiple press conferences each day to generate media attention
d. have the candidate write an autobiography for voters to learn more about the candidate’s
life
e. have friends and family make public comments to help spread the word about the
candidate
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Page 203 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Conceptual
30. All of the following are an important part of campaign strategy EXCEPT:
a. building name recognition
b. staying “above the fray” by not dignifying an opponent’s false attack with a response
c. building a campaign platform with issue priorities
d. demonstrating an understanding of citizens’ concerns
e. voter mobilization
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Pages 203–5 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
32. Internet and social media sites play an important role in campaigns for all of the following reasons
EXCEPT:
a. informing supporters of a candidate’s issue positions
b. providing the candidate with accurate political information and poll results
c. helping to recruit new supporters
d. informing supporters of a candidate’s upcoming event or appearance
e. organizing large numbers of volunteers
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Page 204 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Applied
33. An important activity of any campaign is ________, which most directly involves ________.
a. mobilizing supporters; the ground game
b. converting opponents into supporters; the ground game
c. mobilizing supporters; name recognition
d. converting opponents into supporters; campaign platforms
e. name recognition; campaign platforms
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Page 204 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
35. A candidate’s platform is important for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
a. to mobilize supporters
b. to gain interest group endorsements
c. to attract campaign volunteers
d. to raise campaign funds
e. to gain ballot access
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Pages 204–5 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Conceptual
38. In an effort to raise doubts about their opponents as much as they draw attention to their own records,
candidates almost all use ________ as a key part of their campaign strategy.
a. press leaks
b. opposition research
c. push polls
d. trackers
e. voting cues
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Page 206 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
40. Candidates who are behind in election polls often use ________ as a way to gain momentum and make
the race competitive.
a. attack ads
b. the invisible primary
c. trackers
d. mobilization
e. opposition research
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 206 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
41. Of the many billions of dollars spent during each election cycle for federal office, most of the money
goes to:
a. thirty-second television ads
b. sixty-second television ads
c. pay for polls and voter data
d. GOTV drives
e. fund-raising operations and activities
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 206 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
42. During the early years of television, many campaign ads consisted of:
a. live press conferences
b. biographical summaries of the candidate’s life and political accomplishments
c. speeches by candidates that lasted for several minutes
d. endorsement messages from top party leaders
e. party-driven messages that supported the party machine
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Page 206 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
44. Which of the following is NOT a consequence of being exposed to television advertising in political
campaigns?
a. People become more interested in the campaign.
b. People become aware of differences between candidates.
c. People know more about the candidates.
d. People become likely to change their minds.
e. People are sometimes mobilized to vote.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: Page 207 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Conceptual
45. Which of the following groups is responsible for regulating the financing of campaigns?
a. political action committees
b. Federal Election Commission
c. Electoral Assistance Commission
d. the political parties
e. Federal Communications Commission
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Page 207 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
46. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was modified significantly by:
a. President George W. Bush and Republicans in the 109th Congress
b. House Republicans and Senate Democrats in the 112th Congress
c. President Obama’s decision not to accept public funds in the 2008 presidential election
d. the Supreme Court’s ruling in Buckley v. Valeo
e. the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Page 207 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
48. Campaign funds that are subject to clear limits on how much can be raised are called:
a. hard money
b. 527 funds
c. 501(c)(3) funds
d. 501(c)(4) funds
e. electioneering funds
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 207 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
49. A 527 organization can accept unlimited amounts of ________ but cannot use that money on behalf of
a specific ________.
a. soft money; candidate
b. soft money; issue
c. hard money; candidate
d. hard money; issue
e. soft money; party platform
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Page 208 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
53. Under federal law, party committees are ________ in the amount of money they can use on behalf of
the candidate through ________.
a. not limited; coordinated expenditures
b. limited; independent expenditures
c. not limited; direct campaign contributions
d. limited; coordinated expenditures
e. not limited; in-kind contributions
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: Page 209 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Applied
54. For presidential campaigns, the federal government provides matching funds during the primary
process to candidates who raise at least $5,000 in each of at least ________ states in contributions of
________ or less.
a. 10; $100
b. 20; $250
c. 26; $1,000
d. 38; $1,250
e. 40; $2,250
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Page 209 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
55. For the general election contest for president, the federal government offers public funds to the two
major-party nominees and any minor-party candidates who belong to a party that received at least
________ of the vote in the previous election.
a. 5 percent
b. 10 percent
c. 15 percent
d. 20 percent
e. 25 percent
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Page 209 TOP: Campaigns
MSC: Factual
58. Which of the following describes a situation in which people do not go to the polls on Election Day to
cast votes, even when they have a strong candidate preference?
a. the paradox of voting
b. turnout
c. reasonable voting
d. alienation
e. apathy
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Page 212 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
59. Typically, members of which of the following groups do not turn out in large numbers to vote?
a. whites
b. men
c. people without a high school education or less
d. middle-aged people
e. women
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Page 212 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
60. A voter who uses a personal vote cue supports a candidate because the candidate:
a. captures the voter’s own anger against the incumbent party
b. shares a personality characteristic with the voter
c. is similar to the voter in some way, such as in age, appearance, gender, or race
d. has provided the voter with assistance in the past
e. is an incumbent
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Page 213 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
61. When someone votes against an incumbent House member or senator because of a failure to provide
federal funds to the district, it is an example of using ________ to make a voting decision.
a. partisanship
b. personal characteristics
c. a retrospective evaluation
d. incumbency
e. a personal vote
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: Page 213 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
62. Because concerns such as economic worries cause voters to lower their evaluations of incumbent
politicians, those concerns:
a. lead to retrospective voting and create conditions for nationalized elections
b. create conditions for a normal election
c. create instability in party control of the legislature
d. cause incumbents to spend more money on advertising
e. decrease the chance of the incumbent facing a strong challenger
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Page 213 TOP: Voters
MSC: Conceptual
63. In a normal election, voters typically focus on all of the following factors to make a decision
EXCEPT:
a. incumbency
b. partisanship
c. personal connection
d. retrospective evaluations
e. fund-raising ability
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Page 214 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
64. Which of the following terms describes a situation in which a popular president generates additional
support for legislative candidates and helps them gain office?
a. The president encouraged straight-ticket voting.
b. The president has coattails.
c. The president caused split-ticket voting.
d. The president provided voting cues.
e. The president caused retrospective voting.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Page 215 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
65. A ballot on which a voter selects candidates from more than one political party is called:
a. a blanket primary
b. an open primary
c. coattails
d. straight-ticket voting
e. split-ticket voting
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: Page 215 TOP: Voters
MSC: Factual
ESSAY
1. A key role of elections is to ensure elected representatives are accountable to their constituents. What
characteristics must both voters and elected officials have in order for elections to provide
accountability? In your opinion, do we need to do anything to ensure greater accountability? Why or
why not?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
2. Describe how the presidential nomination process works for Democrats and Republicans. What
characteristics do they share? What is different? How does this process influence the politics of
selecting a presidential candidate?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
3. Candidates who seek to build support for their election bids confront voters who are often uninterested
and lacking in knowledge. What are the different strategies they use to gain this support? How do
these strategies account for these features of the voters?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
4. A common complaint in the United States is that politicians never stop campaigning, leading to
something called the permanent campaign. Explain what this term means, and discuss how it
influences the behavior of incumbent politicians both within government and during campaigns. Do
you see this as a problem? Why or why not?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
5. Some people believe that campaign advertisements are good, while others believe that they detract
from American election campaigns. Review the arguments on both sides of this issue. Which side are
you on? Why?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
6. Although political parties and interest groups spend considerable amounts of money on elections, they
cannot offer significant support to all candidates for congressional and presidential offices. What
factors do they consider when deciding to which races to devote resources? What consequences do you
think this has for the level of competition in American elections? How do you think this affects the
accountability function of elections?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
7. What groups can raise and spend money in election campaigns? What are the different rules and
regulations that apply to each of these groups?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
8. With the large sums of money spent on elections in the United States, many people are understandably
worried. Yet some scholars argue that this is not a significant problem. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of spending on election campaigns? On which side of this issue do you stand, and why?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
9. What is a voting cue? What kind of cues do Americans use in making their vote decisions? What do
you think about this process for making voting decisions? Is it good or bad? Why?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Easy REF: Pages 213–15 TOP: Voters
10. In 2008, Barack Obama became the first major-party presidential nominee to decline public funds in
the general election. Why did Obama decide to do this? Is the public finance system for president
likely to survive into the future? Should it survive? How should presidential campaigns be financed?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
There were late afternoons now when Joe lighted the whistling gas-
jet over his drawing-board and kept on working after the closing hour
—Atwater often leaving word with the janitor that “Mr. Grimsby was
still up-stairs.” More than this, Joe had been pegging away over his
new idea in gauche and gray paper, and had already made a
stunning big drawing in color for the Lawyers Consolidated Trust
Company Building, a job he and Atwater had recently tackled in
competition, with the result that it was hung in the crypt of the
Academy, away down underneath the stairs in a corner, where a
prowling critic with a lighted match discovered it and gave it an
honorable mention in an evening paper.
“A clever and original rendering,” said he, “is shown by Mr. Joseph
Grimsby in his competition drawing for the Lawyers Consolidated
Trust Company. We predict for this young architect a brilliant future.”
It was on the tip of his pen, no doubt, to add: “Call again, Joe,” since
the beginning of his career as an art critic dated scarcely two weeks
previous, when he had been a reporter on the weekly news of his
home town on the Hudson, a journal devoted to live stock and
visiting.
What the painters said was different. These strongly opinionated
personages spoke a different language. They considered Joe’s
basement effort “clever,” but were frank in saying that his somewhat
amusing trick in gauche and gray paper had no artistic value
whatsoever. Certain important members of the hanging committee
poohpoohed it, hesitated—and condescended finally to send it to the
basement. Certainly it was not allowed to mar the ensemble of the
galleries up-stairs, hung with the product of good, bad, and
indifferent painters, many of whom had a highly estimated opinion of
their own work, and deplored the lack of artistic sense in the general
public to appreciate it. Narrow minds and narrow lives make few
friends. For several years Enoch had seen the exhibition open. It
always seemed to him to be the same exhibition—revarnished and
rehung. The same cows came down to drink, the same fishing-
smacks put out to sea in melodramatic weather, and the same sweet
and unapproachable girl in the colonial doorway smiled on with her
constant companion, a red, red rose. There were soggy wood
interiors with rippling turpentined brooks; slick sunsets and sunrises,
stippled beyond a finish; but what were lacking, Enoch declared,
“were men who saw nature freshly and vigorously, with open eyes,
and the dear courage of their convictions to smash pat upon a
canvas something that was really real.”
Enoch had again made his annual tour of the galleries and came
down-stairs in so savage a humor, grumbling to himself over the
“rot,” he called it, he had seen, that more than once he stopped on
the broad flight to express his views to a painter of his acquaintance,
finally opening up on Mr. Combes, the famous collector, with so
much vibrancy, that it took the old connoisseur’s breath away.
“Rot, Combes,” he repeated; “scarcely a canvas in the lot that has a
vigorous note in it. A lot of tomfoolery in paint. That’s what our
modern art is coming to—and what’s more, Combes,” he exclaimed
out loud (unheeding that he was in ear-shot of others, and not caring
if he was), “it gets worse yearly,” and with this he started to go out,
chucking the catalogue he had purchased away in the vestibule,
when he caught sight of the small exhibit beneath the stairs, turned
back and glanced hurriedly over it, and to his surprise and delight
found Joe’s competition drawing.
“By the gods!” he exclaimed, rewiping his spectacles and searching
out every inch of the big drawing in gauche. “And so that good fellow
did that, did he? No wonder they stuck it out of sight—too good for
’em.”
He sprang back up the stairs after Combes, found him after a search
through the galleries, and insisted on his coming down with him.
“Look at it, man!” he cried with enthusiasm. “See how he’s handled
that sky. Look at the truth and clearness of his shadows. Knew
where to stop, too, didn’t he——”
“Very original, Crane,” confessed the connoisseur. “Um! Very
original, indeed. A new method, as you say—but not a very
interesting subject——”
“What’s the subject got to do with it?” retorted Enoch testily. “I tell
you a fellow who can do that can do anything. It opens a brand-new
field in water-color. It’s his vigorous handling, never mind the subject.
How many architectural drawings have you seen that come within a
mile of it? Why, the boy’s a genius.”
“Know him?” ventured the connoisseur, fearing a fresh outburst.
“Know him! I should think I did know him. One of the cheeriest and
best fellows in the world. Lives in my house. Simple as they make
them. You’ll hear more of him some day, my friend, mark my word.”
Then the two strolled out together, Enoch’s exit being noticed by
more than one painter with relief. He had expressed his opinions
openly before in the galleries, and was not popular. He had also
made several speeches relative to his views on modern art at
several public dinners, which did not increase his popularity, either.
Furthermore, he had taken the pains to write a series of articles—
one upon the lack of good taste in both modern painting and
architecture, which made him enemies—strongly accenting, as he
did, the timely necessity of giving architecture a far more
distinguished place in art than it was given. “A place,” he would
thunder away, “which Greece gave it, and which the world has
recognized for centuries.” He used to expound upon the beauty and
plain common sense in the classic compared with the hodgepodge
of new styles—or, rather, the attempt to create a new style, which
always amounted to the usual jumble and stupid elaboration.
“There’s no jumble in the classic,” he’d declare hotly, with all the
vehemence of his conviction. “Start from the very ground—the
foundations of their buildings, and you can trace a logical growth of
base, column, capital, and architrave, to the apex of roof, not an
unnecessary detail—more than that, the Greeks knew the value of a
plain surface as a rest for the eye.” At which there was always sound
applause from the architects, and a doubtful grumbling among the
painters, whose failing it was, declared Enoch, “always to
overelaborate.”
“Some of you fellows,” he’d cry out, “never seem to know when to
stop.” It was a favorite expression with him to say the next day:
“I got on my hind legs, and gave it to them straight from the
shoulder.”
If he was often a convincing orator, despite his almost savage
brusqueness at times, it was because he was (and few people knew
it) a most able lawyer, though his business life was always more or
less of a mystery. That he actually had an office was known only to a
few friends. It was many years since he had practised law. Somehow
that modest office of Enoch’s in South Street contained memories
that were dear to him. He was loyal to it. Did he not pay its rent in its
old age? And now and then came to see it, to spend an hour there in
the company of his old desk—a solid, friendly old piece of oak, with
eighteen deep and comfortable drawers and plenty of room for his
legs beneath. Here he would sit thinking of many things of the past,
of hard fights that had won legal victories, under the spell of that
pleasing sensation that no human being could disturb him. Old
McCarthy, the janitor, attended to that, and kept his snug library of
law-books very decently dusted, and I verily believe that faithful
Irishman would have gone as far as to tell an inquisitive visitor that
“Mr. Crane was long since dead and buried, and his office sealed up
by the estate”—if such a thing were possible.
It was a cheerful, quiet little box of a place, after all, and the sun
when it shone never forgot to send its warm rays across its worn and
faded carpet. The whole place seemed to have been asleep for
years, and only awakened now and then to receive its owner. Very
few were aware that Enoch owned the building, but he did, the
question of lease and rent and payment passing through other
hands, according to his orders. How many of its occupants in years
gone by had been in arrears and were astonished to find that no one
insisted on their departure! Somehow they always paid in the end,
yet they never knew that the testy and crabbed old lawyer, whose
tirades against certain shrewd visitors could be plainly heard as far
as the shaky, greasy elevator, was responsible for the kindly delay.
He was kind, too, to the book-agent, especially the tired woman in
the direst misery, bravely trying to sell one of those thick and superb
volumes that are so often utterly useless to humanity. How many he
talked to and sent away encouraged—often with new and practical
ideas to better their condition.
He reached home this afternoon, still grumbling over the exhibition,
and full of enthusiasm over Joe’s drawing.
“So Combes didn’t like the subject, did he? Combes is an ass,” he
muttered, and arriving at Joe’s door, knocked thrice, found him out,
hastily scribbled the following on his visiting card, and slipped it
beneath his door:
Hearty Congratulations to you, my boy. I’ve seen it.
Splendid. Don’t worry if it wasn’t hung on the line. It
deserved it.
E. C.
Then he went on up to his room, where he made up his mind to pay
his respects to Joe at his office the next morning. He paced around
his centre-table, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
“I’ll give him a surprise,” he smiled. “I’ll take that dear child with me;
he deserves it.”
By some miracle, not a word had yet reached his ears of Lamont’s
call, though Mrs. Ford had lost no time in telling the Misses Moulton
the very first time she found their door ajar, prattling on effusively to
Miss Ann about Lamont’s charm, his knowledge, and his princely
manners.
As for Ebner Ford, he considered Lamont’s visit and his attentions to
his stepdaughter purely in the light of business prosperity, and
already foresaw, owing to Lamont’s social position, the patronage of
a vast horde of fashionable people for his laundry company. More
than once he was on the point of hunting up Lamont, and having a
plain talk with him, of explaining to him clearly, man to man, a
proposition which would mean dollars to them both. He decided to
offer him something really worth while—a five per cent commission
on the net profits of every client sent by him. He already saw Lamont
persuading dozens of housekeepers, whose wealth and social
position were renowned, to part with their laundresses and confide
their delicate fineries to The United Family Laundry Association—
and had blocked out a circular to the effect that the most expensive
lingerie in the company’s care would come out unscathed from the
wash. If business warranted it they would put in a separate plant of
machines, exclusively devoted to the fashionable set, replacing any
garment damaged, for a price estimated by an expert, and running
ribbons for every lady client free of charge. And all this he explained
to his wife, whom he had been parsimoniously spoiling of late with
poor little Miss Ann’s money.
“Well, Em,” he concluded, “what do you think of it? Pretty
encouraging, ain’t it?” Possibly for the first time in her married life
with him she put down her plump foot firmly in opposition. She grew
red and white by turns, and felt like weeping.
“What do I think of it, Ebner?” she replied nervously. “Why, I never
heard of such a thing. Why, why, Mr. Lamont would be insulted. Why,
he’d never call on girlie again.” She looked at him with the set
expression of a small owl defying a hawk.
“Insulted, would he!” he broke out. “What’s he got to be insulted
about? Ain’t I offerin’ him a fair price? Ain’t I? You can bet your life I
am. There ain’t no man yet that ever got insulted over five per cent.
Know what it means? Course you don’t, or you wouldn’t talk like
you’re doin’. Figger it out for yourself. Them fashionable women
send more clothes to the wash in a week than some women do in a
month. Think they’re going to stop at an extry handkerchief? Not
much. Reg’lar extravagance with ’em. They got tasty, dainty things
by the dozens. Take the shirt-waists and the summer dresses alone.
You’ve seen yourself how business has improved lately, ain’t you?”
He nodded significantly to the new clock on the mantel, and glanced
likewise at the new gilt chair with a hurt expression, as if neither had
been really appreciated. “There’s your new bonnet, and your new
dress, too, and there’s plenty more comin’ where they came from,
little woman.”
She walked over to him and put her short, fat arms about his gaunt,
red neck, begging him tearfully to forgive her.
“There! I shouldn’t have said a word,” she declared, wiping her eyes.
“Only I’ve got daughter’s welfare to think of. And, oh, Ebner, you
can’t understand, but think of what Mr. Lamont’s friendship may
mean to her. Think of the entrée into society he can and will give her.
I’m just as sure of it as my name’s Emma Ford. He’d never in the
world agree to such a thing. He’s too much of a swell—holds his
head too high, dear.”
“There you go again,” he blurted out, pacing around her, his thumbs
in the armholes of his fancy waistcoat. “I’ve a good mind to see him
now and have a plain talk with him. He won’t refuse it, don’t you
worry. He’d be a fool if he did.”
“Oh, please, Ebner, don’t,” she begged. “I’d—I’d be mortified to
death.”
“Won’t cost him a cent, will it, to decide? Anyway,” he returned,
softening a trifle, “he can think the thing over, can’t he?”
She did not reply.
“Can’t he?” he insisted.
She subsided meekly on the sofa.
“I don’t ask you to promise me anything, dear,” she continued feebly.
“I’m not asking anything—am I?—only—” again her voice faltered
—“only I’m thinking of girlie. Have you spoken to her about it?”
He wheeled around sharply and faced her.
“Spoken to her! No, I ain’t spoken to her, and I ain’t a-goin’ to. She’s
got idees about things that ain’t mine. She’s all dreams and music
and singin’. She’s got her own line of business and I got mine.”
“Ebner!”
“Well, what—ain’t I right? If I had to confine myself to song for a livin’
I’d go and hang myself. Ever see anybody get rich on art?” he
sneered. “I ain’t. It’s noble, but there ain’t nothin’ in it. Never will be,
an’ never was.”
She sat listening to him—the fresh tears starting to her eyes, but she
had ceased to protest. What was the use? He was like that at times,
and she had learned to let him have his say, to the end, like a
barking dog. But in the end she felt convinced that for her sake he
would spare her feelings in regard to Lamont. She even ventured
that it would be better in any event to wait until he became an older
friend, and that he finally agreed to, adding:
“Well, Em, you’ll have your way, I suppose, as usual; you generally
do.”
He had been more right than wrong. Lamont would have accepted
the five per cent gladly, providing the little transaction was kept in
secret, like that amiable agreement which existed between himself
and his tailor in appreciation of the clients he sent him. Practically
half his clothes were given him free of charge, and the other half for
the wholesale price of the cloth alone. The customers he sent paid
the difference. If it was a question of wines, he always recommended
a certain brut champagne from Rheims. In the matter of cotillons and
caterers, he also had a marked preference. Indeed, very few among
those of his women friends who entertained lavishly would think of
deciding the details of a cotillon or a large dinner without coming to
“Pierre” for advice. There was nothing he would not do for a woman.
He was kindness itself, organizing, arranging, and all with so much
good taste in everything, so much originality, too, that the affair was
bound to be a success. Was it not he who thought of the live little
rabbits for favors at the Jimmy Joneses’—a huge success. Some
even took them home, where they died from fright and rich food, or
were given to the grocer to be cared for and forgotten. Delicious
idea!
That which had not yet reached Enoch’s ears was imparted to him
the next morning by Mrs. Ford when he called for Sue, with all the
effusiveness that her mother was capable of. Save for a sudden hard
expression that crossed his face for an instant, and which Sue
noticed, he received the news without a word of protest or remark. At
the mention of Lamont’s name and the fact that he had called, his
square jaw stiffened. He had set his heart on taking Sue to Joe. He
did not wish to spoil her morning’s pleasure, but in that brief moment
his disgust and bitterness toward Lamont reached a point which it
took all his self-possession to control, but control it he did. Mrs. Ford
had never seen him more gracious or more genial, and so they
started off together, Sue insisting on walking.
“But it’s a long way,” explained Enoch; “several miles, my dear.” She
shook her pretty head.
“I don’t care,” she laughed. “Oh, do let’s walk, Mr. Crane,” she
pleaded, “unless it’s—that is—unless it’s too far for you.” And that, of
course, settled the matter. They set out at a good pace together,
Enoch stubbornly holding it, and was amazed to find when they got
as far as the post-office, that Sue confessed she was “not in the
least tired.” He strode along by her side, feeling younger, she
keeping pace with him with the stride of a slim young girl to whom
walking was as easy as laughing or breathing. Now and then they
stopped at the big store windows, Enoch explaining to her a host of
interesting things about the methods in manufacture of the articles
displayed. Indeed, he was as well informed as an encyclopedia, and
where most young girls would have been bored, Sue took a lively
interest in everything, and kept asking him more and more
questions. He explained to her about guns and fishing-tackle—the
skill required in making a perfect hexagonal trout-rod by hand, and
how trout and salmon-flies were tied, mostly by young girls and
women, whose deft fingers were far quicker and more skilful than a
man’s. He described to her in the matter of gun-barrels the difference
between “twist” and “Damascus,” pointing out the beauty of the old
hammer-gun, in comparison with the new-fashioned hammerless,
which he considered ugly and dangerous, and which, having no
hammers, lacked the beauty of line and the true personality of a
fowling-piece. Before the windows of the furriers, she listened to him
while he told her of the habits of fur-bearing animals, and so they
kept on, past the jeweller, the wholesale cobbler, and the fireproof
safer—past cotton goods and babies’ caps—buttons by the million,
and hardware by the gross. It was a far different conversational stroll
from Lamont’s. It was so entertaining, clean, and practical. There
was no subtle passion of Chopin in it, and she was rather glad there
was not. When at last they reached State Street and entered the
slippery entrance of the banana and the lemon merchants’ building,
and had ascended the dingy stairs—dimly illumined by a single gas-
jet flaring under a piece of smoked tin, and at the end of a lemon-
scented corridor had opened the door of “Atwater & Grimsby,
Architects,” and been sleepily greeted by the new office boy, who
yawned over Enoch’s card and carried it languidly into the drafting-
room beyond—Sue waited by Enoch’s side with very much the same
feeling that a young girl would who had been persuaded into
surprising a young man who had not the remotest idea in the world
she was there, and who, finding that she was, rushed out, absolutely
flabbergasted with delight. In his enthusiasm the young man first
gripped Enoch by both shoulders heartily, and then stretched forth
both hands in greeting to a young girl whom he considered far above
all other young girls. Then he dragged them both into the drafting-
room, where the two new draftsmen at work bowed to them solemnly
as they passed, and where Joe hurried into Atwater’s private office
to break the news to his partner, back of its board partition. Atwater
heaved a sigh, calmly rolled down his sleeves, washed his hands,
disconsolately combed his hair, put on his coat, and came forth, but
by this time the loveliest girl in the whole world was perched
contentedly on Joe’s high drafting-stool, and eagerly poring over a
mass of his sketches, Enoch bending over one pretty shoulder and
Joe over the other, while he explained how bad they were, and
received in return more than one sincere little compliment, and a
look in her dear eyes that thrilled him.
After a few brief moments of awkward welcome, Atwater excused
himself and retired to his den, where he took off his coat, hung it
back on its peg, rolled up his sleeves again, ran his fingers through
his hair, and was about to say “Hell” very plainly, but checked himself
and contented himself with “Gee whiz!” instead. They were more
Joe’s friends than his, he argued to himself, as he rebent himself
over a new lot of plumbers’ specifications. He knew there was no
more serious work for Joe that day. He had seen it in his eyes. He
heard it now in his frank, cheery laugh, that rang out and reached
him over the board partition of his sanctum. He knew, too, that Joe
would be capable of anything to make them feel at home, even to
sending out for a little luncheon and serving it himself on his
drawing-board. But it was not Paris. It was plain, hard, businesslike
New York, where the conservative customs of the Puritan still
prevailed. There were no tender chickens, fresh roasted—a half, a
quarter, or even a wing—to be had within a stone’s throw; no good-
natured marchand de vin to send up an excellent bottle of Burgundy
for twenty-three sous, and his wishes for the best of appetites for
nothing. Here it was all cold pie and business—a place where even
millionaires gobbled their sandwich luncheons standing, a thing
which even the poorest workman in Paris would not think of doing—
since to eat one must have not only plenty of time, but a table, a
chair, a knife and fork, clean plates and dean napkins, hors-
d’œuvres, a filled glass, salad and cheese and coffee and a liqueur
—all in a snug corner to his liking, where he can talk to the proprietor
and pay compliments to his wife, and discuss at his leisure anything
that enters his head to the strong, bare-armed girl who serves him.