“Hello, back so soon!” exclaimed he. Then, seeing Mason, he added surprisedly: “Mr. Mason, how are youse?”
“Mr. Dwyer advised me to come to see you,” said Mason, shaking hands; “but I had not the slightest notion that I should meet an old acquaintance.”
Mary left them to themselves; and Mason plunged at once into the matter in hand. He explained in detail the nature of the scheme on foot and then continued: “Now the local reform organization has resolved to fight this thing, and wants to enlist as many men acquainted with practical politics as possible.”
“Sure,” said Larry. “That’s the first crack out o’ the box every time youse hear from ’em. Say, I’ll give it to youse straight: reform’s all to the good, but the reformers give me a pain.”
Mason grew a little red, and looked nettled.
“Don’t take that to yerself,” said Larry, noticing this; “I ain’t a-backheelin’ you or any other man; it’s the reformers as a bunch that I’m hittin’. When they hear of a crooked job they start to kick up the dust, hold meetin’s at the Academy of Music and do other red-hot stunts; then the first t’ing youse know they’re backin’ up the worst kind of a gang of tin horn pipes who are on’y fightin’ the administration because they ain’t in on the rake-off. If they win out, the pipes git the plums and work ranker jobs than the other bunch ever thought of, and then the reformers flop over into the other camp and trot the race all over again. Ain’t I right?”
“There is some truth in this,” said Mason, “but then fusion is our only hope; we have not the strength to name and elect a man of our own.”
“As long as youse t’ink that ye’ll be easy game. Say, the people who wants the cards dealt square in the city’s got the bulge, but they’re dead leary on gettin’ their hands dirty; a man with aces in his fist is beat if he don’t use ’em at the show down.”
“I take it that you would support a reform delegation providing you were satisfied it was controlled by reformers.”
“Not on yer life! Le’me tell youse somethin’. Some o’ the fiercest guys what ever broke into politics, started their turn as reformers, and I don’t take no chances on havin’ a confidence game worked on me, see? The man what goes to the convention from this division stands to do a certain t’ing; he’s sent there to do it by the voters and he does it. Nobody outside’s got anyt’ing to say.”