Wednesday noon
And in her gentle trustfulness it was not hard to make his excuses , for the Monday morning brought the strenuosity in the career of David Kildare to a state of absolute acuteness . To the candidate the three days were as ten years crowded into as many hours . Down at his headquarters in the _ Gray Picket _ rooms he stood firm and met wave after wave of fluctuating excitement that surged around him with his head up , a ring in his laugh and an almost superhuman tact . As late as Wednesday noon there appeared before him three excited Anti-Saloon League matrons with plans to put committees of ladies at all the polls to hand out lemonade and entreaties -- perhaps threats -- to the voters as they exercised their civic function . They had planned banners with `` Shall The Saloon Have My Boy ? '' in large letters thereon inscribed and they were morally certain that without the carrying out of their plan the day would be lost . It took David Kildare one hour and a quarter to persuade them that it would be better to have a temperance rally at the theater on Wednesday night at which each of the three should make most convincing speeches to the assembled women of the city , thereby furnishing arguments to their sisters with which to start the men to the polls next day .