which they did not care to have put on record.

He had been appointed the Secretary of the Food Commission, and spent
much time on that work. He was glad to find that he had considerable
influence, and that Green not merely acted on his suggestions, but
encouraged him to make them. The two inquiries were so germane that they
helped him reciprocally. No reports were needed till the next meeting of
the Legislature, in the following January, and so the two commissions
took enough evidence to swamp them. Poor Ray was reduced almost to
despair over the mass of "rubbish" as he called it, which he would
subsequently have to put in order.

Between the two tasks, Peter's time was well-nigh used up. It was
especially drawn upon when the taking of evidence ceased and the
drafting of the reports began. Ray's notes proved hopeless, so Peter
copied out his neatly, and let Ray have them, rather glad that
irrelevant and useless evidence was thus omitted. It was left to Peter
to draw the report, and when his draft was submitted, it was accompanied
by a proposed General Tenement-house Bill. Both report and bill were
slightly amended, but not in a way that Peter minded.

Peter drew the Food-Commission report as well, although it went before
the Commission as Green's. To this, too, a proposed bill was attached,
which had undergone the scrutiny of the Health Board, and had been
conformed to their suggestions.

In November Peter carried both reports to Albany, and had a long talk
with Catlin over them. That official would have preferred no reports,
but since they were made, there was nothing to do but to submit them to
the Legislature. Peter did not get much encouragement from him about the
chances for the bills. But Costell told him that they could be "whipped
through. The only danger is of their being amended, so as to spoil
them."

"Well," said Peter, "I hope they will be passed. I've done my best,
whatever happens."

A very satisfactory thing to be able to say of yourself, if you believe
in your own truthfulness.

CHAPTER XXIX.

IN THE MEANTIME.

In spite of nine months' hard work on the two Commissions, it is not to
be supposed that Peter's time was thus entirely monopolized. If one
spends but seven hours of the twenty-four in sleep, and but two more on
meals, there is considerable remaining time, and even so slow a worker
as Peter found spare hours not merely for society and saloons, but for
what else he chose to u