"If you can't give them anything better than high-school work," said Jim, "that will be so; but if the science and art of agriculture is what I think it is, it would make them hungry for the advanced work that really can't be done at home. To make the children wait until they're twenty is to deny them more than half what the college ought to give them--and make them pay for what they don't get."
"I think you're right," said the professor.
"Give us the kind of schools I ask for," cried Jim, "and I'll fill a college like this in every congressional district in Iowa, or I'll force you to tear this down and build larger."
More nearly happy, and rather shorter of money than he had recently been, Jim journeyed home among the companions from his own neighborhood, in a frenzy of plans for the future. Mr. Hofmyer had dropped from his mind, until Con Bonner, his old enemy, drew him aside in the vestibule of the train and spoke to him in the mysterious manner peculiar to politicians.
"What kind of a proposition did that man Hofmeister make you?" he inquired. "He asked me about you, and I told him you're a crackerjack."
"No use in back-cappin' a fellow that's tryin' to make somethin' of himself," said Bonner. "That ain't good politics, nor good sense. Anything to him?"
"He offered me a salary of seventy-five dollars a month to take charge of his school," said Jim.
"Well," said Con, "we'll be sorry to lose yeh, but you can't turn down anything like that."
"I don't know," said Jim. "I haven't decided."
Bonner scrutinized his face sharply, as if to find out what sort of game he was playing.
"Well," said he, at last, "I hope you can stay with us, o' course. I'm licked, and I never squeal. If the rist of the district can stand your kind of thricks, I can. And say, Jim"--here he grew still more mysterious--"if you do stay, some of us would like to have you be enough of a Dimmycrat to go into the next con'vintion f'r county superintendent."
"Why," replied Jim, "I never thought of such a thing!"
"Well, think of it," said Con. "The county's close, and wid a pop'lar young educator--an' a farmer, too, it might be done. Think of it."
It must be confessed that Jim was almost dazed at the number of "propositions" of which he was now required to "think"--and that Bonner's did not at first impress him as having anything back of it but blarney. He was to find out later, however, that the wily Con had made up his mind that the ambition of Jim to serve the rural schools in a larger sphere might be used for the purpose of bringing to earth what he regarded as the soaring political ambitions of the Woodruff family.
