ndertake.

Socially he had an evening with Miss De Voe, just before she left the
city for the summer; a dinner with Mr. Pell, who seemed to have taken a
liking to Peter; a call on Lispenard; another on Le Grand; and a family
meal at the Rivingtons, where he was made much of in return for his aid
to Ray.

In the saloons he worked hard over the coming primary, and spent
evenings as well on doorsteps in the district, talking over objects and
candidates. In the same cause, he saw much of Costell, Green, Gallagher,
Schlurger and many other party men of greater or less note in the city's
politics. He had become a recognized quantity in the control of the
district, and the various ward factions tried hard to gain his support.
When the primary met, the proceedings, if exciting, were never for a
moment doubtful, for Gallagher, Peter, Moriarty and Blunkers had been
able to agree on both programme and candidates. An attempt had been made
to "turn down" Schlurger, but Peter had opposed it, and had carried his
point, to the great gratitude of the silent, honest German. What was
more important to him, this had all been done without exciting hard
feelings.

"Stirling's a reasonable fellow," Gallagher told Costell, not knowing
how much Peter was seeing of the big leader, "and he isn't dead set on
carrying his own schemes. We've never had so little talk of mutiny and
sulking as we have had this paring. Moriarty and Blunkers swear by him.
It's queer. They've always been on opposite sides till now."

When the weather became pleasant, Peter took up his "angle"' visitings
again, though not with quite the former regularity. Yet he rarely let a
week pass without having spent a couple of evenings there. The
spontaneous welcome accorded him was payment enough for the time, let
alone the pleasure and enjoyment he derived from the imps. There was
little that could raise Peter in their estimation, but they understood
very well that he had become a man of vast importance, as it seemed to
them. They had sharp little minds and ears, and had caught what the
"district" said and thought of Peter.

"Cheese it, the cop, Tim," cried an urchin one evening to another, who
was about to "play ball."

"Cheese it yerself. He won't dare tech me," shouted Tim, "so long as
Mister Peter's here."

That speech alone showed the magnitude of his position in their eyes.
He was now not merely, "friends wid de perlice;" he was held in fear by
that awesome body!