was his
name, an' he was wan iv th' most iloquint young la-ads that iver made a
speakin' thrumpet iv his face. He cud holler like th' impire iv a
base-ball game; an', whin he delivered th' sintimints iv his hear-rt,
ye'd think he was thryin' to confide thim to a man on top iv a high
buildin'. He was prisidint iv th' lithry club at th' church; an' Father
Kelly tol' me that, th' day afther he won th' debate on th' pen an' th'
soord in favor iv th' pen, they had to hire a carpenter to mend th'
windows, they'd sagged so. They called him th' boy or-rator iv Healey's
slough.

"He planned th' campaign himsilf. 'I'll not re-sort,' says he, 'to th'
ordin'ry methods,' he says. 'Th' thing to do,' he says, 'is to prisint
th' issues iv th' day to th' voters,' he says. 'I'll burn up ivry
precin't in th' ward with me iloquince,' he says. An' he bought a long
black coat, an' wint out to spread th' light.

"He talked ivrywhere. Th' people jammed Finucane's Hall, an' he tol'
thim th' time had come f'r th' masses to r-rise. 'Raymimber,' says he,
'th' idees iv Novimb'r,' he says. 'Raymimber Demosthens an' Cicero an'
Oak Park,' he says. 'Raymimber th' thraditions iv ye'er fathers, iv
Washin'ton an' Jefferson an' Andhrew Jackson an' John L. Sullivan,' he
says. 'Ye shall not, Billy O'Brien,' he says, 'crucify th' voters iv th'
Sixth Ward on th' double cross,' he says. He spoke to a meetin' in
Deerin' Sthreet in th' same wurads. He had th' sthreet-car stopped while
he coughed up ree-marks about th' Constitution, until th' bar-rn boss
sint down an' threatened to discharge Mike Dwyer that was dhrivin' wan
hundherd an' eight in thim days, though thransferred to Wintworth Avnoo
later on. He made speeches to polismin in th' squadroom an' to good
la-ads hoistin' mud out iv th' dhraw at th' red bridge. People'd be
settin' quite in th' back room playin' forty-fives whin Smith O'Brien
Dorgan'd burst in, an' addhress thim on th' issues iv th' day.

"Now all this time Bill O'Brien was campaignin' in his own way. He niver
med wan speech. No wan knew whether he was f'r a tariff or again wan, or
whether he sthud be Jefferson or was knockin' him, or whether he had th'
inthrests iv th' toilin' masses at hear-rt or whether he wint to mass at
all, at all. But he got th' superintindint iv th' rollin'-mills with
him; an' he put three or four good faml'ies to wurruk in th' gas-house,
where he knew th' main guy, an' he made reg'lar calls on th' bar-rn boss
iv th