seven in the evening before
`` No thank you ; no dessert for me . With a member of the family being elected -- or not -- for a seat in Parliament , I 'm not the one to want dessert . '' Between Mr Murchison and the milkman that morning , Mrs Murchison felt almost too much tried by the superior capacity for reticence . It was seven in the evening before the ballot-boxes were all in the hands of the sheriff , and nine before that officer found it necessary to let the town know that it had piled up a majority of three hundred for Walter Winter . He was not a supporter of Walter Winter , and he preferred to wait until the returns began to come in from Clayfield and the townships , in the hope that they would make the serious difference that was required of them . The results were flashed one after the other to the total from the windows of the Express and the Mercury upon the cheering crowd that gathered in Market Square . There were moments of wild elation , moments of deep suspense upon both sides , but when the final addition and subtraction was made the enthusiastic voters of South Fox , including Jim Whelan , who had neglected no further opportunity , read , with yells and groans , hurrahs and catcalls , that they had elected Mr Lorne Murchison to the Dominion House of Commons by a majority of seventy .