"Mr. Dillon comes from Sullivan," said Everard, "to ask you, as a condition of renomination, that you take back your remarks on the Irish last winter. You did them good. They are so soaked in flattery, the flattery of budding orators, that your talk wakes them to the truth."
"I take nothing back," said the Mayor in a calm, sweet voice to which feeling gave an edge.
"Then you do not desire the nomination of Tammany Hall?" Arthur said with a placid drawl, which usually exasperated Everard and other people.
"But I do," the Mayor answered quickly, comprehending on the instant the quality of this antagonist, feeling his own insolence in the tone. "I merely decline the conditions."
"Then you must nominate yourself, for the Irish won't vote for you," cried Everard.
"The leaders would like to give you the nomination, Mr. Livingstone. You may have it, if you can find the means to placate offended voters for your behavior and your utterances on St. Patrick's Day."
"Go down on your knees at once, Mayor," sneered Everard.
"I hope Your Honor does not pay too much attention to the opinions of this gentleman," said Arthur with a gesture for his companion. "He's a Crusoe in politics. There's no one else on his island. You have a history, sir, which is often told in the Irish colony here. I have heard it often since my return home——"
"This is the gentleman who spoke of your policy at the Donnybrook banquet," Everard interrupted.
Livingstone made a sign for silence, and took a closer look at Arthur.