"Does Thompson want the nomination again for mayor?"
"No, it would be useless for him to try again. There is too big a 'holler' about the non-enforcement of law. Abe Greene has announced himself as a law-enforcement candidate, and he will be a hard man to beat. We must get a man that there is nothing against. I told Thompson that he'd better not try it and that we would take care of him in some other way. Of course we want Springer present."
"All right, you notify Thompson and Springer, and I will see Hennesy. What time shall we meet?"
"Nine o'clock. We want to keep this meeting secret. There are a lot of people who resent slate fixing, but there must always be leaders."
"Sure, there must be leaders," replied McBryan, as he left the room.
That night McBryan, Hennesy, Springer, Thompson and Stover met in the bank office. "Let's see, are we all here? Here's Thompson, who has a big personal following, and Hennesy, who has a lot of good patrons whom he can control, Springer furnishes the publicity and shapes the opinions of the general public and McBryan represents the Catholic vote. We have a real lineup. They can't beat it," remarked Stover, rubbing his skinny hands together and smiling one of those hungry smiles of the avaricious before devouring a meal.
"We need a good lineup," said Springer, "the insurgents are going to make a desperate effort to control the election and have put up a strong man for mayor."
"That's so," replied Stover, "Abe Green will not be an easy man to beat. He has always trained with the prohibition crowd, and in addition to that he is a successful business man. What we must do is to get a candidate for mayor who can divide the dry vote with him."
"We ought to have Isaac Goldberg here, too. We can't afford to neglect the Jews," said Springer.
"That's right," Thompson affirmed.