"I wonder if you have fully considered, I shall not say the dangers, but the difficulties and annoyances your course may expose you to—may very well expose you to?"
"No," said Luke shortly. "I'm too busy."
"A great many men have tried what you are trying," the Judge went on, "and they have all failed. I tried it once myself. None has succeeded; not one. Some of them, of course, entirely through their own faults, were ruined by it, Mr. Huber."
"I dare say," said Luke, unmoved.
"And you," warned the Judge, "have the success of a new and valuable political movement in your hands. You are responsible for it and to it. This might end by losing you the nomination."
"I can stand that."
"It might even hurt the men in the movement that have trusted you."
"I sha'n't blame myself for it, if it does."
"And if it did not do these things, it would surely wreck the faction at the polls—a faction that you believe in and that, if successful, could do such a wide public good."
Luke was standing above his caller, his hands deep in his pockets.