You turn and start to walk back down the road toward your house. Revolting! The idea that they're actually selling votes! You want no part of anything that awful. You only make it about ten steps down the road before you hear your name being called.
"Nat! Hey, Nat! Where are you going?!"
It's the voice of Mr. Haney. You turn and see him walking out of the schoolhouse and in your direction. He has a puzzled look on his face. Turning away, you begin to walk faster, and you feel your cheeks beginning to burn. You know that nobody is going to understand why you didn't vote. The word has probably gotten out already, and once people hear about it, they'll jump to conclusions. You can imagine the accusing look on mens' faces as they question you about it. You can even imagine your own father--a staunch Republican--having unkind things to say about his crazy, "socialist" son, who refused to vote at all, much less vote the straight GOP ticket! Still, you've made your choice, and you refuse to deviate from your beliefs. You just hope you'll be able to hold up under the town's disapproval. You've just made a reputation for yourself that'll last for quite a while...
The End
You have just decided to cast your lot with a very small portion of the population. Typically, in the 19th Century, only about 20% of voting-age men failed to turn up at the ballot box. Those that did were often branded as anarchists, or deviants, or even just plain crazy, much like Miles was in Main Street. Historically, Benjamin Harrison won the 1888 election with 263,366 votes in Indiana. Incidentally, the bribing of Republican voters depicted here actually did occur, especially in New York and Indiana. Some districts in Indiana received as much as $20 per vote--Nat lives in a keystone district. Although you didn't actually cast a vote, thanks for taking the time to learn about the campaigning and election processes!