He could not comprehend how any one could dare not to vote for Fisher major; and absorbed in that wonder he continued to hold up his hand long after the two tellers had agreed their figure, and the captain had ordered "hands down." "Fisher major, one hundred and twenty-seven votes; now, hands up for Brinkman." "Whew!" said D'Arcy, fanning himself with his handkerchief; "it'll be a close shave.

I say, we'd better lean up hard against the door.

It'll keep out the draughts." "They've got it, I'm afraid," said Ashby, looking round at the forest of hands; "we hadn't as many as that." "I say, that cad Brinkman is voting for himself," said some one.
"What a shame! My brother didn't.

He's too honourable," said Fisher minor.
"Hullo! `How now'-- you there ?" cried Wally.
Whereupon, amid great laughter, Fisher minor retired modestly behind the rest.
The counting seemed interminable, and every moment, to the guilty ears of Ashby, there seemed to be a sound of footsteps without.

At last, however, the cry, "hands down," came once more, and you might have heard a pin drop.
"Fisher major, one hundred and twenty-seven votes; Brinkman, one hundred and twenty-two.