r. "You consider yourselves pledged to
support Maguire?"

"Yes. We are pledged," said four voices in unison.

"So am I," said Peter.

"How?"

"To oppose him," said Peter.

"But I tell you the majority of the convention is for him," said Number
One. "Don't you believe me?"

"Yes."

"Then what good will your opposition do?"

"It will defeat Maguire."

"No power on earth can do that."

Peter puffed his cigar.

"You can't beat him in the convention, Stirling. The delegates pledged
to him, and those we can give him elect him on the first ballot."

"How about November fourth?" asked Peter.

Number One sprang to his feet. "You don't mean?" he cried.

"Never!" said Number Three.

Peter puffed his cigar.

"Come, Stirling, say what you intend!"

"I intend," said Peter, "if the Democratic convention endorses Stephen
Maguire, to speak against him in every ward of this city, and ask every
man in it, whom I can influence, to vote for the Republican candidate."

Dead silence reigned.

Peter puffed his cigar.

"You'll go back on the party?" finally said one, in awe-struck tones.

"You'll be a traitor?" cried another.

"I'd have believed anything but that you would be a dashed Mugwump!"
groaned the third.

Peter puffed his cigar.

"Say you are fooling?" begged Number Seven.

"No," said Peter, "Nor am I more a traitor to my party than you. You
insist on supporting the Labor candidate and I shall support the
Republican candidate. We are both breaking our party."

"We'll win," said Number One.

Peter puffed his cigar.

"I'm not so sure," said the gentleman of the previous questions. "How
many votes can you hurt us, Stirling?"

"I don't know," Peter looked very contented.

"You can't expect to beat us single?"

Peter smiled quietly. "I haven't had time to see many men. But--I'm not
single. Bohlmann says the brewers will back me, Hummel says he'll be
guided by me, and the President won't interfere."

"You might as well give up," continued the previous questioner. "The
Sixth is a sure thirty-five hundred to the bad, and between Stirling's
friends, and the Hummel crowd, and Bohlmann's people, you'll lose
twenty-five thousand in the rest of the city, besides the Democrats
you'll frighten off by the Labor party. You can't put it less than
thirty-five thousand, to say nothing of the hole in the campaign fund."

The beauty about a practical politician is that votes count for more
than his own wishes. N