ss, Harry
grew a bit confused. 'Well, he kept a saloon; but'--Harry hastened to
explain--'it was a very nice saloon, never any trouble with the police
there; why, Tommy knew every man on the force. And they keep good
liquors, too,' said Harry, earnestly; 'throw away all the beer left in
the glasses.' 'What else would they do with it?' asked innocent I. 'Why,
keep it in a bucket,' said Harry, solemnly, 'and then slip the glass
under the counter and half fill out of the bucket, then hold it under
the keg LOW, so's the foam will come; that's a trick of the trade, you
know. Tommy says his father would SCORN that!' There is a vista opened,
isn't there? I was rather shocked at such associates for Harry, and told
his mother. Did she think it a good idea to have such a boy coming to
the house? a saloon-keeper's son? She did not laugh, as I half expected,
but answered quite seriously that she had been looking up Tommy, that
he was very much attached to Harry, and that she did not think he would
teach him anything bad. He has, I find myself, notions of honor, though
they are rather the code of the street. And he picks up things quickly.
Once he came to tea. It was amusing to see how he glued his eyes on
Harry and kept time with his motions. He used his fork quite properly,
only as Harry is a left-handed little fellow, the right-handed Thomas
had the more difficulty.

"He is taking such vast pains with his 'oration' that I felt moved to
help him. The subject is 'The Triumph of Democracy,' and Tommy civilly
explained that 'democracy' did not mean the Democratic party, but 'just
only a government where all the poor folks can get their rights and can
vote.'

"The oration was the kind of spread-eagle thing you might expect; I
can see that Tommy has formed himself on the orators of his father's
respectable saloon. What he said in comment interested me more. 'Sure, I
guess it is the best government, ma'am, though, of course, I got to make
it out that way, anyhow. But we come from Ireland, and there they got
the other kind, and me granny, she starved in the famine time, she did
that--with the fever. Me father walked twenty mile to the Sackville's
place, where they gave him some meal, though he wasn't one of their
tenants; yes, and the lady told him how he would be cooking it. I never
will forget that lady!'

"I saw a dramatic opportunity: would Tommy be willing to tell that story
in his speech? He looked at me with an odd look--or so