“I said,” he corrected hastily, “we’ve got too much at stake to risk any failure when a little money would guarantee success.”
“Would five thousand dollars guarantee it?”
“If I had that much in cash, to spend here and there as I saw the need of it––take one type of man out to dinner a few times, where I could get close to him––loan another type fifty dollars if he asked me for it (and some of ’em would)––hire detectives to shadow another type––”
“Detectives!”
“Yes. To check up their habits. Suppose we found a man gambling on the sly; we’d hold that over his head and––”
“Humph! I don’t like it much, but in a good cause it may be justifiable.”
“And leaflets and circulars and one thing and another.... But if I have to go out and get permission from a finance committee before I can let go of a dime, I can’t do anything. I’d have to have the money so I could use it exactly as I needed it. And if I did, I’ll bet I could get support you never dreamed of. Get outside people to bring pressure on the Council.” He gazed at the ceiling. “Why, with a leeway of 227 five thousand, I’d even have the Exhibitor’s Association with us. I’d have––”
“Think so?”
“I know so.”
“How?”