In the Frenskys' new apartment, Francine and her friends Cliff (the rich horse boy), Mary Elaine (the mouse girl), and Thor (the lizard boy) were seated at a table, playing Cliff's favorite board game, Social Darwinism. Nemo frolicked nearby with a ball of string.

Francine closed her hand over the dice and shook them. "C'mon, lucky seven!"

What she rolled was not seven, but eight. She groaned.

"Oh, dear," said Cliff, who was wearing a fancy silk shirt. "You've landed in the poor house. I believe I own that."

Francine grouchily collected two hundred dollars from her dwindling pile of play money and handed it to Cliff, who placed it atop his enormous stash.

Thor rolled the dice next, and moved his playing piece (a hammer, appropriately) onto a square that was marked, The Light at the End of the Tunnel.

"Awright!" exulted Thor, pumping his fists. "This is always something good."

He picked a yellow card from a pile in the middle of the board, and read it. "Your hostile takeover bid is successful. Five hundred dollars."

Cliff handed Thor a five hundred dollar note.

Mary Elaine rolled next, then moved her playing piece to a square marked, Out of the Gene Pool.

"Oh, no," she groaned. "I lose two turns."

As Cliff prepared to roll the dice, Mrs. Frensky called from the living room. "Francine, get in here, quick!"

"Go on without me," said Francine as she rose from the table.

When she joined her mother and Catherine in the living room, she was surprised by what she saw on TV.

"That's Sue Ellen!" she exclaimed as she sat down on the couch.

On the screen, a news reporter was in the Armstrong house, talking to Sue Ellen and her parents.

"From what I hear, you were a city councilwoman in Elwood before you gave up your political career to follow your husband around the world," said the reporter, a sheep lady.

Cliff, Thor, and Mary Elaine filed into the living room, curious.

"What's this about?" asked Cliff.

"It's my friend, Sue Ellen," Francine explained, "from Elwood City."

"She saved a boy from drowning," Catherine added. "I missed the part where they said the boy's name."

As they watched, Mrs. Armstrong fielded the reporter's questions.

"...and after that we moved to Nigeria, and then Costa Rica," she said. "We never stayed in one place for very long."

"Neither did we," Thor remarked. "My dad works for the World Bank."

"I've never regretted giving up politics for diplomacy," Mrs. Armstrong continued. "Until now..."

On the screen, Mr. Armstrong became visibly alarmed.

"Can you expand on that?" asked the sheep lady reporter.

"Gladly," said Mrs. Armstrong. "I haven't told you what my daughter was doing on the bridge yesterday. She and some of her friends were aiding a man who had been pondering suicide."

"Dad!" Francine gasped. Mrs. Frensky went pale.

"He had lost everything. His job, his family, and his savings, which he had carelessly gambled away at the Golden Fleece Casino!"

"Hoo boy," said Francine. "Here we go."

"His is only one story," Mrs. Armstrong went on. "Many lives have been ruined by that insidious establishment. It should have been shut down a long time ago, but Mayor Crook won't have it. He thinks the casino provides needed jobs and revenue. But he's wrong. Elwood City survived without the casino before, and can survive without it again."

The reporter started to look anxious. Mrs. Frensky and her daughters stared at the screen in wonder.

"Mrs. Armstrong, have you considered that Mayor Cook may be watching you right now?" asked the reporter.

"If he is, all the better," said Mrs. Armstrong defiantly. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, but recent events have moved me to action."

She stood up, holding the microphone, and appeared twice her normal height. "I, Daisy Mack Armstrong, am going to run for the mayorship of Elwood City."

The Frenskys' apartment was suddenly filled with the sound of jaws dropping.

"And I am going to shut down the Golden Fleece Casino," she added.

Mr. Armstrong looked as if he was choking on a piece of furniture.

"And what's more," Mrs. Armstrong continued, her voice rising in pitch with each word, "I'm going to increase the budget for..."

The TV screen suddenly went blank.

"What happened?" cried the astonished Francine. "Bring her back!"

Miles away, in the Read home, Dave and Jane Read could not believe what they had just viewed.

"Is she out of her mind?" Mrs. Read exclaimed. "How can she beat Mayor Cook?"

"I had no idea..." Mr. Read began, but was interrupted when an anchorman appeared on the TV screen.

"We apologize for the interruption of our broadcast," he said. "We are experiencing some technical difficulties, but we'll continue to bring you our interview with the Armstrong family as soon as possible."

In a nearby house, Bitzi Baxter and her son Buster were recovering from the surprise of Mrs. Armstrong's announcement.

"Technical difficulties, indeed," said Bitzi skeptically. "Come on, Buster. We're going over there to get the rest of the story." With that, she grabbed her camera bag and marched out the door, Buster following.

In a mansion a few blocks away, Ed and Millicent Crosswire were discussing what they had watched unfold on their 60-inch TV.

"It's not right," Mrs. Crosswire complained. "Her daughter saves someone's life, and she takes advantage of the media attention to make a political statement."

"Yes, it's Machiavellian, isn't it?" said Mr. Crosswire. "Utterly ruthless." He smiled.

In another mansion, in another part of the city, Bradley Cook, a goat man who happened to be the city's mayor, sat in a black leather chair in front of a large-screen TV. He placed a cigar in his mouth and lit it.

"Daisy Mack Armstrong," he said ominously. "We meet again."

(to be continued)