She soon pacified her infuriated lover. The girl, she explained, was her country cousin, Julia by name, who had come to the house and spent the evening in opening champagne. Both she and the "cousin" had partaken so freely of the wine that they became drowsy, and had so fallen asleep on the same bed.
Cousins, and especially country cousins, are, as we know, a privileged class; and so Ben concluded that he would permit Kitty's friend to remain where she was. It may be mentioned that this little trip cost our hero the comfortable sum of one thousand dollars, for he remained in Pittsburg long enough to visit a number of faro banks, and to open several baskets of wine. He concluded, upon his return to Petrolia, that country cousins were too expensive luxuries to be indulged in often, and jealousy didn't pay.
Ben as a Politician--Elected Burgess of Petrolia, but Cheated out of the Office--Goes to Queen City--Pleasure Trip West--Preparations to fight Tom Allen in St. Louis.
Not long after Ben's return to Petrolia from the country cousin trip, a couple of fellows came into his place--they were residents of the town of Brookville--and claimed that on a previous visit, they had been cheated out of four hundred dollars in the house. This was a lie, cut out of the whole cloth.
Perceiving it to be nothing more than an attempt at blackmail, Ben showed the fellows the door in short order. They set out in search of a justice, swearing to procure warrants for Hogan's arrest. The latter followed close at their heels, and reached the justice's office just as the warrants were to be signed.
Ben denounced his accusers, and endeavored to show the Squire that what they asserted was a falsehood. The argument which ensued led to hot words on both sides, and these in turn resulted in blows. Ben whipped both of the men and turned them out of the office, along with the Squire for company.
During the fracas, the man who entered the complaint, drew out the money which he claimed had been stolen from him, thus proving that his accusations were wholly false. Of course the case was never pressed in view of such developments.
Petrolia by this time had become a borough, and the election of a burgess, as the office is called in Pennsylvania, was close at hand. A very strong and popular man, Dimmick by name, had been nominated for the position, and as his election was regarded a certainty, no opposition candidate was named.