GIFT OF 
 

DEVLIN- 
 J - BOSS 
 
DEVLIN-BOSS 
 
DEFLIN- 
 J - BOSS 
 
 A ROMANCE of 
 AMERICAN POLITICS 
 
 By FRANCIS 
 CHURCHILL 
 WILLIAMS 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 BT 
 
 C L I FF O R D 
 C A R L r O N 
 
 LOrHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 B O S TON 
 
COPYRIGHT, 
 i go i, BY 
 
 L O r H R O P 
 P UBLISHING 
 COMPANY. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS 
 R E S E R VE D 
 
 ENTERED AT 
 STATIONERS 
 HALL 
 
 Published Ju/y 2^, I go I 
 jth Thousand, July 29, 
 ?lh Thousand, Aug. id, IQOI 
 
T ? TOMMY 
 
 COMRADE 
 C O U NS ELLOR 
 CRITIC ^ 
 
 162233 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 JIMMY, taking his beating with clenched teeth and 
 dry eyes ; Jimmy, hurrying to the bedside of some 
 stricken worker ; Jimmy whose face softened at 
 the sound of a woman s voice, and whose arms made 
 a cradle at a baby s touch ; Jimmy whose heart was 
 over-big for his plain, strong body, this, as well as 
 the Jimmy whose tireless brain wove the political des 
 tinies of a city s thousands, is the Jimmy I would have 
 you know. 
 
 To the world he was a Boss. To a few he was 
 a Man. 
 
 That those who know of a "Jimmy" in his public 
 character may, after reading this story, think sometimes 
 of him as one with longings, disappointments and joys 
 akin to their own is the wish of 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 

BOOK 
 
 ONE 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 J. DEVLIN 
 
 BOSS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 JIMMY DEVLIN sat in a chair and was 
 pounded. His arms were folded about his 
 head ; his feet were caught in the rungs of the 
 chair; his spindle shanks fortified the shelter given 
 by his arms from the blows which Dan Gallagher 
 sought to plant on his face, and which fell upon 
 his thin shoulder blades and bent back. It was in 
 the Sporting Editor s room, and the time was the 
 breathing spell which followed the printing of the 
 first edition of the " Evening News." 
 
 The Sporting Editor and his associates criticized 
 Dan s delivery of blows and awaited developments. 
 Jimmy would have the best of the encounter in the 
 end, they knew from experience. 
 
 Presently, a blow heavier than the rest knocked 
 Jimmy sideways, and Dan who was the biggest and 
 strongest of the office boys, paused to note its effect. 
 Jimmy promptly raised his head. He was a small 
 boy, and his face covered with freckles, his pug nose, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 12 
 
 thin lips, pointed chin with heavy lines about the 
 mouth, and his wrinkled brow made him look like a 
 chimpanzee. But his blue eyes were sharp, and his 
 forehead was broad. He stuck out his tongue at 
 Dan and laughed, a little, dry cackle that drove his 
 assailant into a fresh fury. Then he ducked into the 
 shelter of his arms just in time to avoid a vicious 
 blow, and, for two minutes, was thumped harder 
 than ever. 
 
 When sheer exhaustion made the other stop 
 Jimmy raised his head again. " Hello ! slugger," he 
 said, and laughed again. There were ugly, red 
 marks on his neck, and one dirty, chapped knuckle 
 was bleeding; but his voice was unshaken and his 
 eyes sparkled. Dan was satiated with the use of 
 his fists but dissatisfied. He knew that he was 
 worsted ; the Sporting Editor s laughter told him so. 
 It was with relief that he heard the City Editor ring 
 his desk bell, and responded to the call. 
 
 Jimmy s comment was brief : " Th big stiff ! " 
 he said, as he unhooked his legs from the chair and 
 adroitly filched a half-smoked cigarette from the cor 
 ner of the Sporting Editor s desk; " he couldn t 
 punch a dent in a pound a butter." Then he sucked 
 his knuckle, and dodged to avoid an eraser which the 
 owner of the cigarette hurled at his head. 
 
 Jimmy Devlin was the terror and delight of the 
 " News " office. He was a lamb when he arrived; 
 but, within two weeks he hatched a brood of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 13 
 
 talents which bred more laughter and curses among 
 the men of the editorial staff than were earned by the 
 other five boys together. He had graduated from 
 the street, where he sold papers, to the editorial 
 rooms of the " News " where he carried " copy " 
 and ran errands. When at home, he lived in watch 
 ful fear of his father who called himself " politician," 
 and found need to be much in the saloons of his 
 neighborhood. 
 
 But of these facts the " News " office was igno 
 rant. Jimmy rarely talked there about anything but 
 what concerned the " News " and the men who made 
 it. He was not exactly secretive, but he had a phil 
 osophy of his own. He believed in hearing every 
 thing that was to be heard, and imparting only such 
 information as was likely to be useful to himself. 
 Thus he developed his ideas upon finance. At four 
 teen years of age he had discovered the truth that 
 money breeds money and that enterprises are profit 
 able to the promoter in proportion as their workings 
 are hidden from outsiders. So it was that he became 
 a banker. 
 
 There were many small tips to be earned about the 
 " News " office. Newspaper making is a hungry 
 business, and some newspaper-makers have small 
 chance to go to restaurants for their meals. There 
 fore, to the one who brings them a good lunch 
 quickly they are grateful. A nickel measured the 
 gratitude of the men at the desks of the " News " 
 
 . 
 i 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 14 
 
 until Jimmy arrived. Soon after that time it was 
 observed that the nickel was seldom to be found 
 in the change tills of the nearby restaurants. A dime 
 was the smallest coin that Jimmy brought back, un 
 less the difference between the sum given him and the 
 purchase price of the meal he fetched was less than 
 ten cents. And Jimmy, most often, got the dime. 
 The same conditions existed in the tobacco stores 
 when Jimmy was sent to get a cigar or cigarettes. 
 But, then, no one responded so promptly as did 
 Jimmy to the call for a boy to do an errand ; and he 
 always brought back exactly what was wanted. So 
 he got most of the errands to do. 
 
 It was while commenting to Jimmy one day upon 
 the dearth of small coin aforesaid that the Sporting 
 Editor mentioned the Dime Savings Fund. 
 
 "What s that?" asked Jimmy, as if he didn t 
 really care much what it was. 
 
 " That s where they take your dimes, keep em, 
 and pay you interest on all you have there," said 
 the Sporting Editor. 
 
 " Interest s money," remarked Jimmy with the 
 air of one noting a fact long known to him. 
 
 " Yes," replied the Sporting Editor. He did not 
 heed Jimmy s eyes bent intently on him. " They 
 give two per cent on the money you keep in the 
 bank," he added. 
 
 " Two per cent? " repeated Jimmy. His tone im 
 plied that it was a scandalously low figure. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 15 
 
 " Why, two cents on every dollar isn t bad, when 
 you put in only a dime or so at a time," said the 
 Sporting Editor. 
 
 " That s so," reflected Jimmy. Then, as if afraid 
 that this change of opinion might imply lack of prior 
 consideration of the subject : " But they ve got 
 y r money ! " 
 
 " But it s yours, all the same," answered the Sport 
 ing Editor. " You can draw it out any time you 
 want to." 
 
 " A course," assented Jimmy. " An they ain t 
 goin t steal it." 
 
 "No," said the Sporting Editor; "the money s 
 safe there. They re honest and careful." Then he 
 bethought himself of work to do, and forgot all 
 about the Dime Savings Fund and Jimmy. Jimmy 
 made no effort to continue the conversation. Ap 
 parently, his brain was wholly busy with a calcula 
 tion how soon a particular cockroach would fall off 
 the wall on the Sporting Editor s head. Presently 
 he walked away, whistling softly. 
 
 Several weeks after this some one remarked upon 
 the continual requests made by the office boys for 
 ten cent pieces in exchange for nickels or pennies. 
 One day Dan Gallagher was questioned on this point, 
 and excuses failed him. " Y won t tell anybody? " 
 he said. The other promised. " T s cause Jimmy 
 won t take anything but dimes," he then confessed. 
 
 " Jimmy take dimes ? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 16 
 
 " Yes, he says he don t want nuthin else." 
 " But what do you give em to him for? " 
 " He gives us a cent fur every ten dimes we lend 
 him fur a year." 
 
 " What s Jimmy do with the money? " 
 " I don t know ; he won t tell ; an he said f we 
 told anybody he d stop givin us th cent. He s got 
 all th boys in th office in it an a lot a fellers out 
 side." 
 
 The Sporting Editor for he was doing the ques 
 tioning was puzzled. " How do you know Jimmy 
 11 give you your money back when you want it ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Jimmy said he would." 
 
 The simple assertion took away the Sporting Edi 
 tor s breath. Here was something novel. To plague 
 Dan he said, " I ll bet Jimmy 11 keep that money; 
 he s lying to you ! " 
 
 " No, he s not," returned Dan quickly. It was an 
 affirmation of faith against which scepticism was of 
 no avail. But the Sporting Editor was curious, and 
 that afternoon he asked Jimmy point blank what he 
 did with the boys money. 
 
 Jimmy s face fell. " Say ! they re a great lot a 
 ducks ; " he said contemptuously. " They can t keep 
 their traps shut when they got a good thing." 
 " But what becomes of the money? " 
 " It s in th bank, that s where it is," answered 
 Jimmy boldly. His eyes challenged criticism, but 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 17 
 
 the Sporting Editor was without compunction. Sud 
 denly recalling his conversation about the Dime Sav 
 ings Fund, he said, " So you re making money out 
 of them?" 
 
 " I m makin a cent on every ten dimes," returned 
 Jimmy. " Ain t I worked th whole game out ? But 
 y can go an blow th thing f y want t . They ain t 
 got th sense t run it theirselves. I guess they ll 
 stick by me." He was a true prophet. If the Sport 
 ing Editor told what he knew, nothing came of it. 
 Dan beat Jimmy with savage delight and little effect, 
 but he trusted his word absolutely, and so did the 
 other boys. Besides, Jimmy had a persuasive 
 tongue. 
 
 It was that nimble member which enlisted coopera 
 tion in the making of the " News Junior." The ex 
 istence of this organ of public opinion, as repre 
 sented by the six office boys of the " News " edi 
 torial rooms, was a complete secret until, elated over 
 a certain racy contribution to its columns, Billy, the 
 newest of the office boys, exhibited a specimen copy 
 to the News Editor. The News Editor, who was 
 bald, but not beyond relish of a joke, was upset by 
 the exhibit. 
 
 The " News Junior " consisted of a double sheet 
 of " copy " paper with an allegorical heading in 
 pen-and-ink work showing six boys in^ line with 
 their thumbs applied to their separate noses, the 
 fingers outspread in the direction of a man with 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 18 
 
 blonde hair who sat at a desk. A tumbler and a 
 bottle labeled " Whiskey " on the said desk estab 
 lished the identity of the blonde-haired man. It was 
 the assistant City Editor, though the portrait was of 
 indifferent accuracy. Below this heading appeared 
 an article describing a recent unpleasant episode in 
 the " News " office. Pen-pictures of various mem 
 bers of the staff of the " News " ornamented odd 
 corners of the sheets, and the diabolic humor of the 
 artist had assisted a close observation in preserving 
 some things which the subjects of the drawings 
 would have had forgotten. But it was this quatrain 
 which decided the News Editor on his duty : 
 
 " Bald head is a stiff 
 Who smokes old rope 
 He thinks he is a fine writer 
 But he needs a dose of dope. 
 
 " Who wrote that? " asked the News Editor. 
 
 " Jimmy," answered the new boy, frightened. 
 
 " Jimmy writes most of the blamed paper ? " sug 
 gested the News Editor. 
 
 " Yes/ said the new boy, greatly relieved. 
 
 The News Editor knew that he should summon 
 Jimmy and give him a lecture. But he had a whole 
 some fear of facing him with that quatrain as the 
 subject of their discourse. He decided on a middle 
 course. " Tell Jimmy," he said ; " that, if he gets 
 out another copy of the News Junior, I ll report 
 him." He tore up the paper into fine pieces. After 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS ig 
 
 that the " News Junior," which had been meant 
 for private circulation only, suspended publication. 
 But Jimmy, if he refused all association with the 
 new boy thenceforth, did not allow the incident to 
 disturb him; while the News Editor, for several 
 weeks, bore with Job-like patience the plagues 
 that his conduct merited. If his ink-well was to be 
 filled a big blot was left upon his writing pad by 
 some one ; if he needed " copy " paper the supply of 
 that article was " just out/ or, what was brought, 
 was rumpled or dusty; moreover, his shears were 
 constantly disappearing, his mucilage pot regularly 
 upset, his goloshes, umbrella or hat missing, his 
 messages going astray or getting twisted, his copies 
 of the other newspapers being "borrowed," or his 
 tobacco jar knocked over. Nor was he able to fix 
 upon the guilty party ; or, discovering him, to prove 
 anything but clumsiness or forgetfulness on the cul 
 prit s part. The office boys, without exception, de 
 veloped a fertility of excuse that was phenomenal, 
 while, strange to say, other members of the editorial 
 staff, at this particular period, were loud in their 
 praises of the unusual activity and intelligence ex 
 hibited by. the boys. Furthermore, Jimmy himself 
 always was the first to respond to the News Editor s 
 cry of distress or exclamation of anger or disgust. 
 Jimmy condoled with the sufferer and anathematized 
 the offender. Yet the News Editor had not known 
 Jimmy for a year for nothing ; and Jimmy s aid and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 20 
 
 sympathy made him writhe inwardly, and silently 
 swear an awful vengeance, if he ever got the oppor 
 tunity. 
 
 But, when that opportunity arrived, and the pass 
 ing of Jimmy from the " News " office came about, 
 the News Editor found only his admiration chal 
 lenged. Jimmy commanded the situation to the very 
 last. 
 
 It was Fate that directed Jimmy s footsteps on that 
 Saturday afternoon as he walked out of an up-town 
 hall where the Reformed Christian Adventists were 
 holding an all-day convention and a reporter from 
 the " News " was writing an account of it ; it was 
 Fate that made him take a zig-zag course afoot, in 
 stead of boarding a street car for the office, as he had 
 been ordered to do. But Jimmy discounted Fate in 
 that final scene when he took the shaping of his 
 destiny into his own hands. 
 
 As Jimmy turned into a cross-town street he saw 
 a boy he knew, and whistled to him. The boy, at 
 that moment, stepped from the curb, was lightly 
 struck by a passing wagon and knocked down. Jimmy 
 was the first one by his side ; and, even as he helped 
 him to the curbstone, got the inspiration which 
 changed the current of his life. All day long Jimmy 
 had been trying to devise means to get to the circus. 
 It was the last day of the show in town, and a press 
 ticket of admittance to it was in Jimmy s pocket. 
 But it had been a busy day at the " News " office, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 21 
 
 and his request for an afternoon off had been re 
 fused. Now Jimmy saw the chance to secure what 
 he wanted. 
 
 " Re y much hurt? " he asked in a whisper. 
 
 " Naw ! " replied the other boy scornfully. 
 
 " Say, I ll give y a nickel t make believe y re me," 
 Jimmy returned instantly. " Jus give em my name, 
 an say y got t go home, an hand em this," he 
 added. He slipped the " News " reporter s account 
 of the morning session of the Reformed Christian 
 Adventists convention into the other s pocket. 
 
 " Give us yer nickel," said the other boy ; and got 
 it at once. 
 
 Jimmy helped the other boy to sit on the curb 
 stone. A policeman came up. " Much hurt?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes, m leg s all smashed, I guess," blubbered 
 the other boy. The officer felt of the knee joint. 
 " Ain t broke, I don t think," he said. " What s y r 
 name? " he asked. 
 
 " Jimmy Devlin," said the other boy promptly. 
 
 "Where do y live?" 
 
 The other boy gave Jimmy s address ; as a matter 
 of fact, he lived near Jimmy. The officer was about 
 to enter the name and address in his note book, but 
 Jimmy remonstrated. " Say, y don t want t do 
 that," Jimmy said. " If his pop heard bout him 
 bein run over he d lick him," he explained, indicat 
 ing the other boy. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 22 
 
 " Well, it was all his own fault, anyway," agreed 
 the policeman. Glad to be rid of further trouble, he 
 put the note book away. 
 
 " I ll see him home/ volunteered Jimmy. " I live 
 near him." 
 
 " Do y think y can get home with him? " asked 
 the officer. The other boy said " yes," and tried to 
 get to his feet. But Jimmy s hand, unobserved by 
 the rest, held him down, and Jimmy whispered out 
 of the corner of his mouth, " How bout that 
 copy ? " And aloud : " What re y goin t do with 
 that story y was takin t th News office? Hadn t 
 y better send that down by a messenger ? " 
 
 The other boy knew that he was expected to say 
 " yes," and said it. " All right," said Jimmy; " I ll 
 send it off fur y , and they ll pay th messenger at 
 th office. An somebody ought t send word y re 
 hurt an can t come down there t day." Jimmy 
 gave an appealing glance to the circle of faces about 
 him, and not in vain. 
 
 " I ll send th boy s papers and word that he s hurt, 
 too," volunteered a druggist whose place was across 
 the street. 
 
 " Much obliged," replied Jimmy. " I ll come t 
 y r store, an tell y who t send word t ; I know 
 th people this boy works fur," he added. " You 
 stay here," he said to the other boy; " I ll be back in 
 a minute." 
 
 " That s a smart boy," remarked a bystander, as 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 23 
 
 Jimmy started across the street. " And a good- 
 hearted one, too," put in another. " Here, here s a 
 quarter for you and your friend," he concluded. 
 The other boy took the quarter. He was not sur 
 prised; all sorts of things happened when Jimmy 
 was mixed up in anything. 
 
 Across the street Jimmy stood beside the druggist 
 and told him what to say in his note to the " News " 
 office. " Send it t th City Editor," he said. " An 
 tell him, please, that Jimmy Devlin, he ll know who 
 it is, was knocked down by a w^agon, in front a 
 y r store, an hurted so he can t come back t th 
 office t day. But y d better make it strong, er he 
 won t b lieve y ; they re awful hard on their boys, 
 so Jimmy says." 
 
 "Never you fear," returned the druggist; "I ll 
 make em believe me. Why, I guess I know what 
 happened; didn t I see the boy myself? " He wrote 
 the note, took the bundle of " copy " paper from 
 Jimmy, and said he would send them both off at 
 once. Then Jimmy went back to the other boy. 
 
 When they were around the corner, out of sight of 
 the crowd, Jimmy remarked : " How bout that 
 quarter?" 
 
 " Quarter? " repeated the other boy. He spoke as 
 if he heard the word for the first time. 
 
 " Yes, quarter ! " mimicked Jimmy. " I heard 
 that softy in th crowd say, here s a quarter fur y u 
 an y r friend. Come, pull it out, quick ! " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 24 
 
 " Oh, that quarter ! " returned the other boy. " I 
 was goin t give y half, but I hadn t th change." 
 
 " Here s th change," said Jimmy immediately, 
 and he handed the other boy twelve cents. Then he 
 tossed a coin for the odd cent which the other boy 
 won. 
 
 A clock struck two. Jimmy dropped the other 
 boy s arm. " I m going," he said. " But don t y 
 furget that y wasn t hurt an neither was I. Here s 
 that twelve cents t help y t remember not t say 
 nuthin about it. F y do say anything about it 
 well, I ain t furgot who it was broke that winder in 
 th Free Breakfust Club buildin last week. Th 
 perlice is layin fur th feller that done that." No, 
 Jimmy had not forgotten; it was one of his princi 
 ples not to forget and not to let others think that 
 he had forgotten. Long before, he had discovered 
 that this last rule of action was most effective in the 
 affairs of the world. 
 
 Fifteen minutes after Jimmy left the other boy 
 he was deep in a study of the feats in equilibrium 
 performed by a beautiful lady in pink fleshings and 
 a cloud of tulle who floated over a piebald horse. 
 And, so engrossed was he in this and other wonders 
 that took place in the tan-bark circle of the big tent 
 that, for once, that sensitive sixth sense of his slum 
 bered, and he did not see the Assistant City Editor 
 of the " News," who, with his wife and children, 
 occupied seats two rows back of Jimmy and a hun- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 25 
 
 dred feet away. Moreover, it was only when the 
 performance was over that the Assistant City Editor 
 saw him. An umbrella belonging to the man seated 
 next to Jimmy leaned perilously near an opening in 
 the footboard of the seats. Jimmy s foot, unob 
 served, slyly pushed this umbrella until it slid into 
 the opening and fell to the ground, five feet below. 
 Then Jimmy offered to recover it, and did recover 
 it by dropping between the seats, and so earned ten 
 cents from its grateful owner. 
 
 It was when he emerged, red-faced and trium 
 phant, that the Assistant City Editor saw him wave 
 the captured umbrella, and recognized him, and said 
 to his wife : " Why ! there s our Jimmy, and every 
 one s looking at him, as usual." 
 
 And Jimmy? Alas! Jimmy neither saw the 
 speaker, nor heard his voice. 
 
 It was Monday noon that the news of his doom 
 reached Jimmy s ears. The City Editor of the 
 " News," always alert to advertise his paper, had seen 
 in Jimmy s devotion to his duty a chance to make 
 a telling little story. Wherefore, he had directed 
 Mackey, who was clever at that sort of thing, to write 
 a quarter of a column about Jimmy s mishap and 
 how his first thought had been to get to his paper the 
 report he was carrying. The story was told with 
 realistic touches and a sense of the pathetic that 
 made it very effective ; it appeared under a half-dis 
 play heading on the page devoted to city news. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 26 
 
 On Monday afternoon one of the other office boys 
 Showed this story to Jimmy as he limped about, re 
 ceiving with becoming unconcern inquiries con 
 cerning his accident. Jimmy read the story, and, 
 then, went to Mackey and thanked him for writing 
 it. " Why, y might a seen th whole thing/ he de 
 clared. " It s jus e zacly like it was." 
 
 " Is that so ? " Mackey replied in an abstracted 
 tone; but, secretly, he was flattered. Jimmy s praise 
 was something, and Jimmy s enmity well no one 
 in the office courted that. 
 
 It was just after Jimmy had left Mackey that 
 Dan Gallagher, who was much in the City Editor s 
 private office, hurried into the Sporting room where 
 Jimmy was relating his experiences, and told the 
 dreadful news. 
 
 Jimmy was to be " fired ! " Yes, it was certainly 
 so. Even Jimmy s easy laugh and scornful words 
 did not convince them that Dan was lying. Dan 
 himsdf had heard the City Editor announce Jimmy s 
 fate. It was after the Assistant City Editor at lunch 
 hour had glanced over the late edition of Saturday s 
 paper and read the account of Jimmy s heroic con 
 duct. Following this he had whistled, and asked the 
 City Editor why he chose Jimmy for that " fake." 
 Then came explanations from both sides, and the 
 City Editor cut short ensuing argument by the ex 
 plicit statement, " I ll discharge Jimmy, Friday 
 next! This thing s gone on long enough. Jimmy 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 27 
 
 may be smart; he s too smart, anyway, for this 
 shop." 
 
 Jimmy heard the news without comment. Except 
 for a slight twitching at the corners of his eyes he 
 gave no visible sign that he had not known about all 
 this long before. But, from that moment, he be 
 came an object of fresh interest to the other boys. 
 They watched him as they would have watched a 
 strange animal. They were sorry for him, there 
 fore they began to bait him; it was the only way to 
 cover a sympathetic front, which would have been 
 an embarrassment. 
 
 " I knowed y d get fired, " said Dan. " I bet 
 John y would, a week ago ; didn t I, John ? " John 
 said " yes," though he hadn t heard of the bet be 
 fore. 
 
 " Then y got t pay him now/ declared Jimmy, 
 quick as a flash. " How much did y bet, Dan ? " 
 
 " Two cents a a nickel," stumbled Dan, 
 taken off his guard. 
 
 " Shell out th nickel, John ! " commanded Jimmy, 
 and, when John demurred, he added, " He s got t 
 pay it, hasn t he, boys ? " They were grinning, 
 but they supported Jimmy s decision, and John gave 
 up the nickel which Dan pocketed sheepishly. After 
 that there was no more said of bets having been 
 made on the question of Jimmy s discharge. In 
 deed, the fun of badgering Jimmy suddenly lost its 
 edge. Admiration of the distinction which had 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 28 
 
 fallen upon him was increased by the manner in 
 which he bore himself. 
 
 But Jimmy withdrew himself from the crowd, 
 and, for ten minutes, managed to secure privacy in 
 the Library, where, with legs swinging from a table, 
 he did some hard thinking. 
 
 Then he slid from the table, found pen, ink and 
 paper, and secured a quiet corner. There, for twenty 
 minutes, he was very busy. He wrote with frequent 
 and lengthy pauses, his head cocked on one side, his 
 lips spelling the words he put on paper. Anyone, 
 knowing Jimmy and watching him now, would 
 have predicted startling developments shortly. But 
 no one came upon him, and, when he had finished, he 
 put what he had written into his pocket ; and, for the 
 rest of the working day, preserved an inscrutable 
 silence. 
 
 Jimmy knew that he would be officially informed 
 of his discharge as soon as the postscript edition of 
 the " News " was on the presses. There was a half 
 hour then in which, for lack of something more 
 pressing to do, the City Editor said the unpleasant 
 things he had to say. Therefore, when he saw the 
 City Editor come out of the composing room, where 
 he had been assisting in " making up the forms " 
 for the postscript edition, Jimmy slid out of the 
 Sporting Editor s room so quietly that no one no 
 ticed his going. He lingered a moment in the hall 
 way, then walked into the City Editor s office. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 29 
 
 Mr. Carp, the City Editor was at his desk. On 
 one side of him sat a man whose big head, heavy 
 features, keen eyes and shock of black hair were as 
 familiar to Jimmy as to everyone who enjoyed an 
 acquaintance with public characters. Beside him, 
 on a chair, was his inevitable shining silk hat, and in 
 his thick fingers was a half-smoked cigar. He had 
 been talking earnestly to the City Editor, and Jimmy 
 knew that Bill Brady, political leader of the Twelfth 
 Ward and one-time bully, had been registering a 
 " kick " against something that the " News " had 
 said or left unsaid. The News Editor, on the other 
 side of the desk, was secretly enjoying the encounter. 
 
 The City Editor was in a bad humor, and, as 
 Jimmy entered, gave him a sour glance, and snapped 
 out, " Get away from here, boy! I didn t ring." 
 
 But Jimmy stood his ground. He held out an 
 envelope. " Here s a letter I wanted t give y ; it s 
 important," he said boldly. 
 
 The City Editor snatched away the envelope, and 
 told Jimmy to go, which Jimmy did not do. In 
 stead he crossed his legs and leaned against the 
 door-frame, threw a wink at the News Editor and, 
 then, began a study of the City Editor s face as the 
 latter read the letter. 
 
 What Jimmy saw there seemed to gratify him im 
 mensely. Impatience, perplexity, amazement chased 
 one another across the City Editor s countenance. 
 He grew almost apoplectic unfortunately, his sens/a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 30 
 
 of humor was scant. Suddenly, he threw up his 
 head and glared at Jimmy. " What s all this damned 
 nonsense? " he roared. 
 
 " It s my resignation from th Evenin News 
 t take effect t night," said Jimmy calmly; then he 
 turned and sauntered out of the room. 
 
CHAPTER II 31 
 
 WHEN Jimmy withdrew himself from the 
 private office of the City Editor of the 
 " News," after presenting his resigna 
 tion, he left three men in a condition of stupefaction. 
 The City Editor was stricken into silence by the 
 audacity of the thing; the News Editor mutely 
 marveled at the ingenuity which had enabled Jimmy 
 to save himself from discharge; Bill Brady, who 
 dimly comprehended what the boy had done, revelled 
 in admiration. The trick appealed to him, as a 
 politician, by its cleverness and the equanimity with 
 which it had been performed. There was no doubt 
 in the minds of these witnesses to the scene; Jimmy 
 had retired, master of the situation. He was no 
 longer an office boy in the employ of the " News," 
 but he had left behind him documentary evidence 
 that he had voluntarily retired from that position, 
 and that, too, in a formal and dignified manner. 
 
 The City Editor, who felt that he had come off 
 badly in the encounter, presently, found voice to say, 
 " That little limb of Satan ! His resignation ! " At 
 this word he sputtered. "He resigns! does he? 
 
 Well, I ll be !" Expletives failing him, he 
 
 relapsed into silence. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 32 
 
 The News Editor wanted to shout; but under 
 stood that his mirth would not be appreciated. Bill 
 Brady, however, had no such fear. " What did he 
 write, anyway?" he asked. The City Editor, not 
 realizing that he was completing Jimmy s triumph, 
 permitted the other to pick up the letter of resigna 
 tion. 
 
 Bill Brady glanced at the single sheet of paper. 
 Then, as he found it helpful to do when arriving at 
 an understanding of what was written or printed, he 
 read it aloud. It was as follows: 
 
 " Mr. W. S. CARP, Esq., 
 
 " City Editor of The Evening News: 
 
 " Dear Sir : I am thinkin of enturin in anuther pur- 
 fession soon and I find I must hand in my Resigna- 
 shun from the staff of the Evening News. We have 
 bin in this news paper bisness fur over a year and 
 four months and I am sorry We must part, fur we 
 have passed many plesant hours in each uthers 
 socierty. But you know bisness work makes us part 
 sometimes with our frens so I will say good by to 
 you with kind wishes that you may sucseed and sum 
 day purhaps get a good pusition 
 
 " Yours very truly 
 
 " J. DEVLIN." 
 
 " P. S. N. B. Im sorry if my goin away frum you 
 jus now makes it hard to get out the News but I 
 have to leave tonight sure. The new boy mite do 
 fur my place. If you do that try the assistunt City 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 33 
 
 Editor in the new boys place. You dont have to 
 know much in the new boys place. 
 
 " Yours 
 
 " J. DEVLIN." 
 
 The News Editor, at this point, found that his 
 presence was instantly demanded elsewhere. The 
 City Editor, upon whom a faint appreciation of the 
 humor of the thing was beginning to steal, was 
 cudgelling his brain to find something to say that 
 would save him from ridicule. Bill Brady had taken 
 up his hat and was smoothing the silk. Suddenly, 
 he arose. " Guess I ll go," he said. " Try an do 
 what I asked y ." Then, laying down the letter he 
 had read aloud, he asked, "That boy, Jimmy; 
 where s he t be found? " 
 
 " God knows ! " answered the City Editor for lack 
 of something better to say. 
 
 " Well, that boy 11 get ahead," remarked Brady 
 sagely, and, with that, he walked out. But, at the 
 end of the hallway, he halted where Jimmy was the 
 center of a ring of boys. " Jimmy Devlin," he said, 
 " y know who I am. Well, you come up t my place 
 tomorrow; I want t have a talk with y ." 
 
 " All right," replied Jimmy. 
 
 " Gee whiskers ! " remarked one of the boys when 
 Brady had gone. " Mebbe y ll get a job frum him." 
 
 " Maybe," returned Jimmy. " Pol tics s a good 
 business; an pol ticians boss th newspapers," he 
 added. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 34 
 
 Half an hour later Jimmy, leaning against the 
 wall of a big building, a dozen blocks uptown, was 
 smoking a contemplative cigarette when two boys 
 shot around the corner and made for opposite sides 
 of the street. One of them clutched an evening 
 newspaper, and ran to save this and his skin. The 
 other fled for reasons of personal safety only. 
 Twenty feet behind them came a girl of fourteen 
 with legs of extraordinary thinness and length. Un 
 der one arm she hugged a bundle of newspapers, the 
 other arm, which stuck far out from the sleeve of 
 her calico dress, worked like the piston rod of an 
 engine and, to such good effect, that she overhauled 
 the boy with the newspaper when fifty feet from 
 where Jimmy stood. In a dozen seconds she had 
 torn away the newspaper from the thief, dealt him 
 a box on the ear that sent him staggering, and 
 whirled about to chase the other boy. But he now 
 was beyond her reach, and she contented herself 
 with hurling at him, " I ll smack y r face, Splint, 
 if y ever come on my street again ! " Then she 
 rubbed the newspaper on her knee to take out the 
 creases in it, slipped it into the bundle of papers, 
 turned to retrace her steps, and caught sight of 
 Jimmy. 
 
 " Hello, Jimmy ! " she said. " See me smash that 
 Pete Sims?" 
 
 "Yes," said Jimmy; "but I thought y wasn t 
 goin t catch him. I was jus comin t help y ." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 35 
 
 "Huh!" remarked the girl. "A lot of help 
 you d bin ! Pete d a licked y ! " 
 
 "Oh, I don t know," returned Jimmy loftily. 
 And, then, "Coin home?" 
 
 " Re you?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "I ain t! Goodbye!" 
 
 " Neither m I; I ll go long with yV 
 
 " Don t want y ." 
 
 " Yes, y do." To prove that he was right Jimmy 
 wet his finger, carefully extinguished his cigarette, 
 put it into his pocket, and fell in beside her. Kate 
 Mayne had yet to learn that he had resigned from the 
 " News " and had an appointment with a politician 
 for the next day; and, standing where he did with 
 her, it was proper that she should be told these things 
 at once. 
 
 Kate Mayne was Jimmy s " steady." That is, 
 if the vigorous exceptions filed by Marcus Doran 
 were set aside. The relation was of two years stand 
 ing, and it had begun in the rear basement of the 
 " News " building. 
 
 At that time the boys and girls who sold the 
 " News " on the street got their papers daily at the 
 same counters. Ten minutes before each edition be 
 gan to come hot from the presses, a pushing, noisy 
 mob of boys and girls besieged the distribution 
 counters. Things are better regulated now; but, as 
 it was then, those crowds gave fine chance to spirits 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 36 
 
 more mischievous than polite. It was a favorite 
 amusement with the boys to pinch the legs of the 
 score or more of girls who fought their way into the 
 pack; and the diversion was the more enjoyed be 
 cause it was practically impossible to fix upon the 
 offender when all were so jammed together. 
 
 One afternoon, while shrieks of pain and the 
 smack of hands from a dozen points in this crowd 
 informed the initiated that many little girls were 
 being made exceedingly unhappy, Jimmy, who had 
 forced himself well to the front, suddenly received 
 a sharp nip on one of his calves, and turned his head 
 so quickly that he caught a smaller boy behind him 
 in the very act of withdrawing his hand. Jimmy 
 had the boy by the neck instantly, and was about to 
 deal out that horrible punishment known as a 
 " Dutch rub," when the offender vehemently pro 
 tested that he had pinched Jimmy by mistake. In 
 proof of this he called attention to the fact that, 
 shoulder to shoulder with Jimmy, stood a girl. " I 
 meant t pinch her," the boy hastened to say. " I 
 got y r legs mixed up. Her legs an yourn look jus 
 alike." 
 
 Jimmy gave a glance to the girl s legs, and in 
 stantly administered the " Dutch rub " with a double 
 dose of knuckling. For, there was no doubt about it, 
 his legs and those of the girl were remarkably alike. 
 If anything could be so, the girl s were thinner than 
 his. When he had let the offender go he glared at 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 37 
 
 the girl. It was a stare of contempt; it was intended 
 to show her that the boy who had just made such a 
 dreadful mistake was as blind as a bat, and that he 
 (Jimmy) was properly scornful of the comparison. 
 But the look failed to wither the girl. She made a 
 telescope of one hand, and pretended to peer at 
 Jimmy s legs. 
 
 " I don t b lieve y was pinched/ she said with a 
 sniff. " They ain t nuthin underneath y t pinch." 
 
 Jimmy did not know that it was the spark of 
 youthful love which fired up in his cheeks as he 
 heard this scathing sarcasm; he only knew that he 
 was hot with righteous anger and impotent. Yes, 
 impotent; for Jimmy s manhood had attained that 
 stage where a blow to a girl was out of the question, 
 and, for a moment, his speech failed him. In that 
 moment he took in the girl with what was meant 
 to be a pitying glance. 
 
 Kate Mayne was slightly taller than himself, 
 which was not saying much, and was all legs and 
 arms. Her dress long ago had given up trying to 
 live up to her length of limb, while her shoes, if they 
 held together, would be large enough for her to 
 wear for several years to come. Her hair was in a 
 thick pig-tail down her back, her face was thin, her 
 skin dead white, her nose small and straight. Her 
 mouth drooped at the corners, and this and her 
 eyes, which were large and gray and watchful, were 
 the only things that made an immediate impression 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 38 
 
 on Jimmy. He thought that her eyes and mouth 
 were scornful, and, to his amazement, completely 
 lost control of his temper. He burst out in a volley 
 of adjectives that made him helpless before her. 
 
 She regarded him warily, half expecting an at 
 tack with his fists. When he used only words and 
 very blundering ones at that, she grew courageous 
 and witty. "Oh, my!" she said, addressing the 
 crowd. " Jus hear them words he s usin ! Wonder 
 who learned em t him? Don t nobody pinch his 
 legs again, or he ll blow up." 
 
 Thereupon, Jimmy, for one of the few times in 
 his life, retreated. He pretended that he wanted to 
 catch and do injury to the boy who had pinched 
 him, but that was a transparent fraud. And so be 
 gan his acquaintance with Kate Mayne, How it 
 came about that secret admiration of her defeat of 
 him and a certain liking for her vigorous independ 
 ence made him attach himself to her and become her 
 " steady " need not be chronicled at length. Certain 
 it is that this happened. 
 
 It was for sake of her that he mastered his detesta 
 tion of " Sneak " Patterson and got him into the 
 " News " dinner and entertainment on Christmas 
 day. "Sneak" was a bootblack. Only boys who 
 bought ten copies of the " News " daily for two 
 weeks previous to Christmas received tickets of ad 
 mission to the dinner and entertainment. More 
 over, these tickets were in great demand; for both 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 39 
 
 dinner and entertainment were extraordinary affairs. 
 But Kate was sorry for " Sneak " because he had a 
 club foot and was bow-legged. She came to Jimmy 
 three weeks before Christmas. " Sneak wants t go 
 t th dinner," she said. " You get him in." Then 
 she ran to sell a paper to a man who had whistled to 
 her, and did not mention the subject to Jimmy again. 
 
 But Jimmy knew that Kate had told " Sneak " that 
 he should go to the dinner such was her superb 
 confidence in Jimmy. And, as he had not refused to 
 do what she asked, he intended to do it. That he 
 could fail never entered his head. It was simply 
 a question of ways and means. That was the habit 
 of Jimmy. It was always : How shall I do it ? 
 never, Can I? 
 
 So it was that " Sneak " got word, a few days 
 later, to line up at the distribution counters of the 
 " News," and buy ten copies of the postcript edition 
 of that paper. Jimmy put the seven cents necessary 
 thereto into " Sneak s " hand just as he made the 
 purchase. Even " Sneak s " club foot and bow-legs 
 were not a guarantee of his honesty. Jimmy fol 
 lowed him closely to the street. 
 
 " Give us those Newses ," he demanded. " An 
 come back t morrow an do th same thing. I ll give 
 y th money." Then Jimmy went off, and " hustled " 
 to get rid of his extra load. 
 
 The following day " Sneak " again was on hand, 
 and the performance was repeated ; and so each day 
 
 V 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 40 
 
 until Christmas. After a few days one " Snapper " 
 Smith recognized " Sneak " just as he was buying 
 his papers, and told the distributing agent : " Say, 
 this feller aint no news-boy! He s jus buyin 
 1 Newses t get int th dinner." Later, when 
 "Snapper" had seen the transfer of "Sneak s" 
 papers to Jimmy, he proclaimed at the distributing 
 counter how the trick was done. 
 
 But the man at the counter only laughed at 
 Jimmy ; and Jimmy himself, at the Christmas dinner, 
 took pains to make " Snapper " remember the inci 
 dent. " Snapper " had put a quarter of a pumpkin 
 pie under his cap, having eaten all he could at one 
 time. Jimmy saw him conceal the pie, and waited 
 until " Snapper " was directly opposite Mr. Mechlin, 
 the circulation manager. Then, with a terrific swing, 
 he brought down the flat of his hand plump on 
 " Snapper s " cap, and " Snapper " stood a knave re 
 vealed, while pumpkin pie shampoo guttered down 
 his face. 
 
 Kate Mayne, who had seen the occurrence, widely 
 circulated a circumstantial account of it. She also 
 said, " Did y see Sneak Patterson at th dinner? 
 He was there; Jimmy got him in." 
 
 Jimmy heard this and was satisfied that he had 
 done well. Marcus Doran scoffed at Jimmy s trick. 
 " Why, that ain t nuthin," he said. " Anyone could 
 a done that. Th News people s easy fruit ! " 
 But, then, Marcus was prejudiced. Praise of Jimmy 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 41 
 
 stung him ; praise of Jimmy by Kate rankled in his 
 breast a long time. 
 
 Marcus Doran was sixteen. He had been a news 
 boy once, but, from the moment he got a place in the 
 office of a cement company, he held the honorable 
 trade of newspaper vending as unworthy. He lived 
 near Kate Mayne, and cherished an admiration of 
 her which he did not hesitate to let her see. Thus 
 Jimmy and he were rivals, though Jimmy never ac 
 knowledged it. Marcus had thrashed Jimmy re 
 peatedly; it was his confession of Jimmy s equality 
 and, again, a reminder that, when the lion roared, 
 all other beasts, and Jimmy in particular, must 
 keep silence. But, though Marcus was big and 
 strong and promised to have good looks, all of which 
 Jimmy was not, Jimmy was the Ulysses. Marcus s 
 supply of bad words and a certain knavish clever 
 ness were poor weapons against Jimmy. Further 
 more, Marcus was vain. 
 
 It did not take Jimmy long to discover this, and 
 he made frequent use of it. One evening in July 
 Marcus had stolen a march on Jimmy, and was 
 sitting with Kate on a deserted wharf, on the river 
 front, where cool breezes came up from the bay, and 
 they were alone. It was a place and hour for the 
 opening of hearts, and Marcus had begun to tell 
 Kate certain things of import when a familiar voice 
 behind them remarked, " He s a lyin ! " 
 
 " Who s a lyin ? " demanded Marcus aggressively. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 42 
 
 " Some feller I jus seen a fishin over there/ an 
 swered Jimmy coolly, and sat down on the other side 
 of Kate. 
 
 " You get out a here ! " ordered Marcus. 
 
 "What fur?" replied Jimmy. 
 
 " Cause we don t want y ; do we, Kate?" re 
 turned Marcus. It was a dangerous appeal. Jimmy 
 understood feminine fickleness well enough for that, 
 and he hastened to say, " Oh! y got a cinch on her, 
 have y ? " and started to his feet. 
 
 " No, he ain t, neither," put in Kate quickly. 
 Jimmy waited. 
 
 Marcus was disgruntled. " I come down here with 
 y ," he complained. 
 
 " Well," said Jimmy; " I got somethin else t do, 
 anyway. I m goin t swim acrost th river." 
 
 " Y ll get drowned," mocked Kate. 
 
 " Huh! taint nuthin t swim acrost! " said Mar 
 cus. 
 
 " Big talk!" remarked Jimmy. 
 
 " Bet I can do it ! " returned Marcus. 
 
 " I ll beat y acrost," 
 
 Marcus was loth to lose his place beside Kate. 
 " Don t want t now," he said. 
 
 " Y re afraid ! I dasied y ! " taunted Jimmy. 
 
 That settled it. " I ll beat y there an back," re 
 plied Marcus at once. To be " dasied " before Kate 
 was not to be borne. " You stay here an watch," 
 he said to Kate. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 43 
 
 Jimmy followed him over the edge of the wharf. 
 On a swinging platform there they took off their 
 clothes, and slipped into the river. They struck out 
 for mid-stream. It was a moonlight night and 
 quiet, except for the churning of the propeller of a 
 passing boat or the screech of a tug s whistle. 
 Marcus waved a gleaming arm at Kate. He was 
 pulling away from Jimmy with long, powerful 
 strokes. " Say, this is fine ! " he yelled, and blew a 
 spray of water from his lips. He enjoyed the cool 
 touch of the waves, and forgot Kate, for the time 
 being. 
 
 Not so Jimmy. " I ll beat y over ! Y ll never get 
 acrost ! " he called to Marcus. " Y re playin out 
 already!" 
 
 Marcus laughed scornfully, and set himself 
 steadily to the work of forging ahead. He did not 
 look back again. He resolved to make the double 
 trip fast enough to have ten minutes with Kate be 
 fore Jimmy got in. Never, indeed, had Jimmy swam 
 so slowly as now. Why, Jimmy had been so far out 
 stripped already that Marcus no longer was able to 
 hear his breathing! He must be fifty feet behind. 
 
 Yes, thrice fifty feet, if Marcus had known it; 
 for, Jimmy, for several minutes past, had been lustily 
 swimming in-shore, and soon was clambering on the 
 platform beneath the wharf. When he had pulled 
 on his clothes he climbed up and walked over to 
 where Kate still sat. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 44 
 
 She was not surprised to see him ; she had known 
 Jimmy for some time. " Where s Marc? 1 * she 
 asked, laughing. 
 
 " Bout half way over/ answered Jimmy, squeez 
 ing the water out of the bottoms of his trouser 
 legs. 
 
 " Don t get me wet, now ! " admonished Kate, as 
 he came over and sat down. Jimmy made no reply 
 at the moment; yet, so persuasive was his tongue, 
 that, after they had sat there for ten minutes and 
 wondered how Marcus was progressing, Kate agreed 
 with him that it was foolish to wait for the latter, 
 and they took their departure. What Marcus said 
 when he returned is not on record. 
 
 But, if this incident gives a better idea of Jimmy s 
 strategy than of his prowess in the water, the latter 
 was not to be scoffed at. Jimmy could swim and 
 swim well, and he had pluck. Also, he had his poses. 
 In evidence of this was that afternoon when he was 
 fishing from a wharf, and a canoe capsized, a hun 
 dred yards out in the river. In the canoe had been a 
 boy, Joe Cans, the son of a merchant who lived 
 in Jimmy s neighborhood. Jimmy saw the capsize, 
 and in fifteen minutes, had the boy on shore. The 
 latter was weakly thankful. He knew Jimmy by 
 sight and name, and wanted him to come to his home 
 and see his father. But quite a little crowd of Sun 
 day loiterers had gathered at the spot, and Jimmy, 
 hearing their words of praise, suddenly remem- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 45 
 
 bered a story he had read in the newspaper of a brave 
 boy who rescued someone, and resolutely refused 
 reward. The rescuer had been called " a modest 
 young hero." The terms appealed to Jimmy; he de 
 termined to earn them now for himself. So he 
 stuck his hands into his pockets, and declared, 
 " Taint nuthin. I wouldn t take no reward. I 
 pulled out lots o people bigger n you re." Then he 
 pretended to return to his fishing; and listened all 
 the while to what was said about him. Nor did he 
 forget the day, or the name of the boy he had pulled 
 out, or the two men he knew who had seen him do it. 
 He was only disappointed when no mention of the 
 episode was made in the newspapers. 
 
 In fact the newspapers did not treat Jimmy well. 
 He was convinced of this after his resignation from 
 the " News." No word of his departure appeared 
 in that paper, and yet he had been a figure of im 
 portance in the " News " office and had had standing 
 outside of it. Else, why Bill Brady s prompt re 
 quest for a interview? 
 
 This interview, by the way, had been eminently 
 satisfactory to Jimmy. All that he had hinted at to 
 Kate that afternoon when he left the " News " had 
 found speedy promise of fulfillment. Brady had 
 said, " I want a boy t run errands an carry mes 
 sages fur me. Y ve got t keep y r eyes open an y r 
 ears, too, an y r mouth shut. Can y do that? " 
 
 Jimmy said he could But the words, " run an 
 
 xl^f^f^X 
 
 . " -. > - . 
 
 OF / 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 46 
 
 carry messages " he did not like. " Y mean t see 
 politicians fur y ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes," answered Brady, laughing. 
 
 Jimmy s ruffled pride was smoothed. " What 11 
 I get ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Four dollars a week." 
 
 " Any tips agoin ? " 
 
 " That s fur you t find out." 
 
 " I ll find em," responded Jimmy. " An I 11 take 
 th job. I 11 start in t -morrow." 
 
 Thus was Jimmy launched on a political career. 
 
 When Jimmy told his father that he had left the 
 " News " and taken a job with Brady there was a 
 row. " Hank " Devlin, as he was known to his 
 associates, was a tall, slouching man of forty-five, 
 with loose mouth, thin hair and general indications 
 of having nearly reached the bottom of a long slide 
 down hill, morally and physically. He rented one 
 room in the second story of a cheap lodging house, 
 and there he and Jimmy lived. He was not a 
 normally bad man and he had the remnants of a 
 reputable bringing up, which still enabled him, on 
 occasion, to present a bearing of respectability and 
 to make strangers think that they were talking to a 
 man of some parts. But " Hank " Devlin had 
 thought that the only way to become a successful 
 politician was to stand in with the crowd at all 
 times ; and " standing in " being so much more to 
 his appetite when it meant also " standing up " (to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 47 
 
 a bar), he fell easily into the habit of spending most 
 of his time in the saloons. Thus he acquired a wide 
 acquaintance with and an uncertain living among the 
 order of political hangers-on. 
 
 He was somewhat drunk and very ugly the night 
 that Jimmy told him what he had done. " Y 
 young cub!" he said. " Go t hell out a here!" 
 He swung around viciously at Jimmy. It was night, 
 and Jimmy was about to go to bed. 
 
 " I m a gettin a dollar more a week," remon 
 strated Jimmy. 
 
 " Y ain t goin t be no bum pol tician," returned 
 his father. As the awful picture conjured up by 
 these words impressed itself upon him, he went 
 on, " No, y ain t. Y re my son, an y ain t goin 
 long \vith that beer-guzzlin crowd." 
 
 Jimmy was silent. He knew the rotation of his 
 father s moods. He had been savage; now he was 
 maudlin; next would come self-pity. After that he 
 might want more to drink. Jimmy looked about the 
 room. There wasn t much to see. A bed, a mat 
 tress in the corner, on which he slept; a couple of 
 chairs, a looking glass at one end over a small table; 
 and, against the wall, a larger table on which were 
 some newspapers, a pipe, and a reddish-brown bottle. 
 The cork was in the bottle that told Jimmy what 
 he wanted. He edged over toward it. Jimmy had 
 no moral scruples against drunkenness, but he did 
 not approve of it because some of its manifestations 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 48 
 
 were unpleasant and some decidedly dangerous to 
 him when his father was the subject. 
 
 Suddenly, he declared defiantly, " Pop, I m goin 
 t be a pol tician! I m goin t keep th job with 
 Brady!" 
 
 " Like hell y are!" exclaimed Devlin. He was 
 aroused by the challenge. " I ll beat th life out a 
 y ! " he cried, and made a rush for Jimmy. 
 
 But Jimmy had calculated both time and space. 
 He spun around, struck the edge of the table, upset 
 the bottle on the floor where it went to pieces, and 
 was at the door and in the hallway before his father 
 could lay hands on him. There, the pursuit ending, 
 he tip-toed down a few steps, and sat, waiting. His 
 father probably would think of coming down for 
 more to drink, but laziness might deter him. Half 
 an hour went by. His father called to him several 
 times, and got no answer. Then, Jimmy heard the 
 bed creak violently, and, presently, snores. After 
 that he stole into the room, and fell into the sleep of 
 a mind free of care. 
 
 Jimmy found the work under Brady to his liking. 
 But he also learned that politicians did something 
 more than wear silk hats, smoke cigars, talk with 
 newspaper men, ride on passes and boss things gen 
 erally. They worked hard at times, and their work 
 often seemed to have no immediate result. For in 
 stance, much of Brady s time was taken up in listen 
 ing to complaints and trying to adjust differences. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 49 
 
 One day it was McGonnigle, the livery stable man, 
 who, in violent Irish, arraigned Brady for the wrong 
 done him by the Street Commissioners. " Twas 
 yisterday they come an told me Oi d have a bill t 
 pay fur changin th curb in front av me place," he 
 said. " Now, Brady, y know thet s not roight." 
 
 " Why so? " inquired Brady. 
 
 " Why so? Is t you thet s ashkin me thet? Is t 
 no freedom a tall, a tall, Oim t have frum th govern- 
 mint I hilped t put in power? Was t not y rsilf 
 thet said, whin Oi wurruked fur y last illiction? 
 McGonnigle, sez you, whin th day comes thet y 
 want somethin , thin d y come t me. Oi ll luk 
 afther y , sez you. An , is t lukin afther me t let 
 me be robbed n this way ? " 
 
 Brady took a memorandum book and a blue-print 
 from a drawer of the desk. They were in his room. 
 " But, McGonnigle," he said, " y re asked t pay only 
 fur th one hundred feet in front of y r own place. 
 All th rest of th curb along y r side of th block is 
 in line. Y don t think that th two hundred n more 
 feet of curb b longing t others ought t be changed t 
 suit y rs?" 
 
 " Tis none av me business what ilse is changed," 
 returned McGonnigle. " Th min what owns prap- 
 erty an each side av me kin pay fur th change er not, 
 ez they loikes; thet s their lookout; an this Oi m 
 spakin av s mine. F t wuz thim thet hilped y 
 make Macy, th plumber, an assessor, why tis thim 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 50 
 
 thet 11 be cumplainin like mesilf. Y know how th 
 thing sthands, an y know, too, thet wuz no objiction 
 Oi wuz makin whin y ashked me t hilp y . There 
 fore, tis me now thet says, Am Oi t change th line 
 av me curb, er am Oi not ? " 
 
 Brady drummed with a pencil on the desk for a 
 moment, and regarded the blue-print thoughtfully. 
 Then he glanced at McGonnigle. The latter s face 
 was uncompromising. " All right," Brady said. 
 " We ll see what can be done about th curb." Mc 
 Gonnigle went out promptly. 
 
 But, later, Jimmy was sent over to McGonnigle s 
 with this message : " Two carriages fur two o clock 
 this afternoon fur some friends that want t inspect 
 curb lines." 
 
 The carriages drew up in front of Brady s house 
 on time, and seven men got into them with Brady, 
 and drove out toward the Park. Jimmy, thereupon, 
 sat down and did some thinking. The conclusion he 
 arrived at was, that, if repairs to one hundred 
 feet of curbing cost the owner of a property 
 the equivalent of the price of the actual work, 
 plus much hard election work and the hire of two 
 carriages for an afternoon, there must be a great 
 deal of money made by someone in the job of street 
 repairing. He determined to look into the matter 
 of street work the first chance he got; but he said 
 nothing to Brady of this. 
 
 It was some months later that Brady sent Jimmy 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 51 
 
 with a message to one Sam Showell. Showell was 
 a younger and stronger man than Brady, but of the 
 same school in politics. He was already a power 
 in the adjoining ward. He had reached that point in 
 his career where the newspapers of the opposition 
 spoke of him as sharp and unscrupulous, and reck 
 oned with him in their estimates of ward votes. He 
 was a man for whose good will it was sometimes 
 worth while for a publisher to suppress a piece of 
 news. All that Jimmy had seen and heard of Sam 
 Showell stimulated his interest in him. So to-day 
 when he reached Showell s outer office and found it 
 empty, he sat down to wait without making un 
 necessary noise. Voices came through a closed door 
 giving on an inner room. Jimmy recognized the 
 powerful voice of Showell rising above those of sev 
 eral other men, and was properly attentive. 
 
 Ten minutes later Showell came out. He was 
 conspicuously dressed and broad shouldered, with a 
 big mouth, a fist like a ham and a cigar perpetually 
 revolving in the corner of his mouth. 
 
 He bestowed a hard glance on Jimmy. " Well, 
 what d y want? " he demanded. 
 
 Jimmy announced his mission without hesitation. 
 
 " How long a y bin here? " asked Showell. 
 
 " Couple a minutes," replied Jimmy indifferently. 
 It was the exact truth. Jimmy had changed his po 
 sition to one further removed from the communica 
 ting door two minutes previous when he heard the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 52 
 
 men inside moving about preparatory to coming 
 out. Now he gave Showell the note he carried. 
 There was no reply, Showell said ; so Jimmy left. 
 
 Around the corner he found a convenient seat on 
 a pile of lumber, and smoked a cigarette while he 
 hugged one knee. The man who, half an hour later 
 lifted up the beam on which Jimmy sat and upset 
 him, declared that the boy. was asleep. But Jimmy 
 wasn t asleep; and, the next day, his reflections of 
 that half hour found expression. 
 
 "Mr. Brady," he said; " ashes s queer things, 
 ain t th ?" 
 
 "How s that? * growled Brady; he was busy 
 with some calculations on the vote at the primaries 
 in the Twelfth Ward. 
 
 " Ashes s queer things/ repeated Jimmy. 
 " Everybody seems t want em." 
 
 " Are y crazy? " asked Brady, looking up. But 
 Jimmy s face, while it was, at that moment, the face 
 of innocence, did not indicate mental weakness. 
 "What re y drivin at?" Brady added. He re 
 membered some things about Jimmy s acuteness. 
 
 " Ashes," said Jimmy calmly. " I say, everybody 
 seems t want em. Is there much money in ashes ? " 
 
 "What kind of money? What do y mean?" 
 Brady began to scent a revelation. 
 
 " Why, th money what s paid fur collectin ashes. 
 What kind of a game is this ash collectin , anyway? " 
 
 " Game ! I don t know nothin about no game," 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 53 
 
 returned Brady. " But there s money made in ash 
 collectin , sure enough." 
 
 "Is th money made n th Tenth Ward?" in 
 quired Jimmy, as if the thought had just occurred 
 to him. 
 
 "What do you know about the Tenth Ward?" 
 demanded Brady. 
 
 " I ? I don t know much. Only I heard that 
 Sam Showel l has bought up all th contractors what 
 was goin t bid in th Tenth Ward on th ash col 
 lectin job, except one. F he gets that one he s 
 goin t ask th city twict what they paid last time 
 fur collectin th ashes there; that s all." 
 
 "That s all!" echoed Brady. " Y little devil! 
 How did y find that out? Where did y hear it? " 
 
 " Yesterday afternoon in Showell s office. He 
 was talkin t a couple of fellows, an he talked too 
 loud." 
 
 " I ll be damned ! " remarked Brady. He never 
 doubted that Jimmy spoke the truth. Then, suddenly, 
 he asked, " Why didn t y tell me that b fore? " 
 
 " Y didn t ask me, an y said t me once t keep 
 my mouth shut till y told me t open it." Jimmy s 
 face said that he was conscious of having obeyed 
 orders implicitly. Brady stared at him fiercely, but 
 it was of no avail. Jimmy s composure was perfect. 
 
 " Y re too good t be true," sneered Brady. But, 
 inadvertently, of course, Jimmy learned, a week later, 
 that Sam Showell was furious. Brady had secured 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 54 
 
 an option on that one remaining contractor, and 
 told Showell that he could buy the option at a stiff 
 price, or meet a competitor in the bidding for the col 
 lection of ashes in the Tenth Ward. 
 
 The next day Jimmy remarked to Brady who was 
 in good humor : " Mr. Showell d given me some- 
 thin t keep my mouth shut about that ash collectin ." 
 
 Brady gave no sign that he heard, and Jimmy 
 went on reflectively, " Yes, I must a lost a couple 
 a dollars by it." 
 
 Brady regarded him with admiration, and pulled 
 out three one dollar bills. " Don t y let Showell, er 
 anybody else, make y furget that y re workin fur 
 me ! " he said. 
 
 " No, sir," said Jimmy, complacently pocketing 
 the money. 
 
 Yet Jimmy had thoughts above money. Some 
 times his imagination bore him away for the mo 
 ment. But he always quickly brought himself to 
 earth with some practical consideration; for Jimmy 
 lived in this world, and kept his feet upon the earth 
 with rare exceptions. He pressed along a path that 
 led up a considerable hill, but not among the clouds. 
 If, occasionally, he got into a rarer atmosphere than 
 was to be found at his normal level it was because. he 
 was always curious. There was nothing too trivial 
 for him to examine, at least by a glance. No bird 
 rested in a tree too high for him to chance a throw 
 at it. Jimmy, perhaps, had no definite aims as yet; 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 55 
 
 but he did have a very certain appreciation of oppor 
 tunities as they presented themselves. He looked 
 ahead just far enough to insure the success of what 
 he was then doing, or about to do. 
 
 So it was that he got his education. Most of it he 
 picked up along the road; his early schooling fur 
 nished a commentary upon the dilatory methods of 
 the educational authorities. A compulsory educa 
 tion obtained by state law. Until he was sixteen 
 years old Jimmy should have been in school. But 
 in five years he had learned all that he believed 
 he needed, and so persuaded his father. The rest 
 was a mere matter of avoiding the teachers and 
 cajoling insistent inspectors with regard to his age. 
 The education he got at school was superficial, 
 but his energy and his alert brain made the best 
 possible use of it, and gained for him enough of 
 other knowledge to make him more than a match 
 for his schoolmates who were law-abiding, industri 
 ous pupils. 
 
 So the three years following his entry into Brady s 
 employ he spent, incidentally, in doing the bidding 
 of Brady; specifically, in establishing himself in the 
 great world of politics. The idea of a political life, 
 at first only a dim possibility among many, gradu 
 ally grew and took on more positive lines. It was 
 not the allurement of power which drew him on, 
 though the field which politics opened up for the 
 exercise of the faculty of leadership that had been 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 56 
 
 his from his newspaper days was plain and fertile. 
 In honesty to Jimmy and Jimmy, even in his poses, 
 was honest to himself, it must be recorded that it 
 was the material profits which accrued to the poli 
 ticians of his acquaintance that made him think of 
 becoming a politician. Later, when he began to 
 draw upon his resources in earnest, he identified that 
 secret joy which came of finding that to speak was 
 to be obeyed; and, then then, Jimmy could not 
 have drawn back, even if power and the comforts 
 of life had not been spelled for him in the word 
 Politics. 
 
 But, in those first three years Jimmy labored faith 
 fully to earn his place. He had run errands and 
 carried messages at first and watched and listened 
 and remembered. Then, as Brady discovered that 
 Jimmy did these last things with as good will and to 
 more effect than he did the first, it became Jimmy s 
 part to watch, listen and report; the running of 
 errands and carrying of messages were now 
 merely nominal, and Jimmy, seeing that these had 
 their use, made no open objection to them. But he 
 strove, none the less to make them superfluous. So 
 well, too, did he strive that, in the third year of his 
 apprenticeship, the advertisements of his servitude 
 were removed. 
 
 Therefore, behold Jimmy at nineteen five feet 
 eight inches high, slender, his face freckled, his nose 
 still unmistakably a pug, his chin beginning to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 57 
 
 square itself, his eyes keen, but less easily read than 
 formerly; and his lips, for all their humorous twist 
 at the corners, seeming to be aware that they 
 guarded what already was spoken of as " Jimmy s 
 word." 
 
 Jimmy dressed with more care than he once did. 
 His pocketbook permitted and his observation ad 
 vised it. He had seen neat attire gain a hearing 
 when cleverness found no chance to speak; and, as 
 his life so far has made plain, he did not believe 
 in neglecting anything that might contribute to 
 the ends which he desired. He wore as good clothes 
 as he could afford to wear, and already was dis 
 tinguished among the men with whom he went by 
 the absence from his person of big, seal rings, pon 
 derous watch chains and brilliant studs. I say 
 " men " advisedly ; for Jimmy s age was the thing 
 most often misquoted. It was generally believed 
 that he was " twenty-four and old for his years " 
 which opinion Jimmy did not take pains to con 
 tradict. 
 
 But Kate Mayne did. She took a particular de 
 light in revealing what she knew Jimmy considered 
 his shortcomings. Perhaps, this was because some of 
 her own deficiencies had disappeared in the years 
 that saw her short dresses lengthen and that thick 
 pig-tail coil itself on a shapely head. She had re 
 joiced in her long legs once because they enabled her 
 to preserve the principle of mine and thine which, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 58 
 
 in the world of newspaper selling, is not recognized 
 as sound unless enforced by swiftness and strength. 
 Now, she was quite conscious that her length of 
 limb was a becoming attribute, and she took pains 
 to wear gowns that were worthy of a decidedly 
 comely figure. She had good taste in such things; 
 that was why she found steady employment at fair 
 wages as a dressmaker s assistant. The world was 
 prosperous with Kate, and she looked out upon it 
 from those fine gray eyes of hers with a new sense 
 of its possibilities and a growing pride in externals 
 which, later on, furnished her with some regretful 
 moments. 
 
 She knew that she had a pretty nose, that the 
 droop at the corners of her mouth was an engaging 
 irregularity, and that many of her sex would have 
 given much to possess her white skin. And, though 
 her schooling had been almost a minus quantity, she 
 was remedying that as far as her opportunities 
 allowed. She had quick perceptions; and, now that 
 her desire to be something better than the girls 
 around her was stimulated, she set industriously to 
 work. She followed no system in this, but she let 
 slip no chance to learn. Her imitative faculties 
 were active, and she picked up a great deal uncon 
 sciously. She took consolation for her immediate 
 shortcomings in the fact that, in a battle of wits, 
 she could put almost any of them to rout and that, 
 as Jimmy expressed it, she talked " like a house 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 59 
 
 afire." At the dances at Industrial Hall she found 
 the time all too short to satisfy the demands of the 
 gentlemen of her acquaintance who sought her com 
 pany in the " intermissions " as often as they did on 
 the floor. 
 
 For Kate had many admirers and one friend. 
 She was not liked by the girls, and this, with some 
 reason, she put down to jealousy. As for the men, 
 with that one notable exception, they insisted upon 
 making their acquaintance a matter of the heart. 
 Besieged as she was, her vanity served her this good 
 turn. It played the chaperone and would not let her 
 forget. So, though she had been almost alone in the 
 world for two years, Kate at nineteen maintained her 
 right to the respectful attentions of a score of men, 
 and gave her confidences to one. 
 
 Of course, this one was Jimmy; for he was the 
 only person who neither was envious of her nor 
 flattered her. She had been his " steady " until in 
 creasing years made such a relation ridiculous as 
 well as juvenile. Then, when a deeper feeling 
 might have attached him to her, the affairs of a 
 larger world crowded in upon him and, well, he 
 spoke no word of love to her. She was piqued as she 
 realized his failure to live up to what was his clear 
 duty ; but pique is an evanescent spice, and, while it 
 led Kate to do some silly things and made Jimmy 
 wonder for a day or two, whether, after all, woman 
 was not a study worthy of attention, it soon evapo- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 60 
 
 rated. Kate remained Kate, and Jimmy, Jimmy; 
 and that was all there was to it. 
 
 If Kate had shown pique to Marcus Doran there 
 might have been serious and more immediate re 
 sults. But Marcus had attained that attitude of 
 maturity which views women of nineteen as young 
 girls and women of twenty-five as the only fitting 
 companions for men of twenty-one. Besides, to 
 the surprise of every one, he had developed an ambi 
 tion, and had thrown himself with such vigor into 
 the business of street-paving that the contractors by 
 whom he was employed took a notion to make a pro 
 tege of him in their pseudo-political work. 
 
 When Marcus reached his majority he was in a 
 fair way to be a rich man some day. He had ful 
 filled his boyish promise of being good looking. He 
 had already begun to take on flesh, but was tall and 
 broad. His face was full and dark with the thick 
 ening beard which he kept smooth shaven ; his heavy 
 hair was always well brushed. He had a habit of 
 wearing his coat thrown back over a stylish vest, 
 which, he fancied, gave him a prosperous appear 
 ance. His eyes were too small and his lips too full, 
 but a straight nose and fine teeth made these de 
 fects less noticeable. He was looked at a good deal, 
 and he knew it, and had a better opinion of himself 
 than ever before. 
 
 Jimmy spoke of Marcus one day to Kate. Jimmy 
 never went to dances, and so he did not see Kate in 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 61 
 
 all her glory ; but he heard about her and he had also 
 heard about the doings of Marcus all of this in 
 formation coming to his ears because he put himself 
 in the way of it. So, " Now, there s Marcus Doran," 
 he said to Kate; " he s goin t make his pile, they 
 say." 
 
 " Is he? " remarked Kate, indifferently. 
 
 "Yes," went on Jimmy; "and, of course, he ll 
 marry some day." 
 
 " I guess so," said Kate. 
 
 " Then, his wife 11 have plenty of money t 
 spend," hazarded Jimmy. 
 
 "Will she?" said Kate. 
 
 " Won t she? " asked Jimmy. 
 
 " I wonder," Kate returned. There was a pause. 
 
 " And you like money," Jimmy resumed. 
 
 Yes ." 
 
 " And do y like Marcus?" 
 
 "Are you still talkin about him?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Jimmy; "him and you." He 
 waited a moment, but got no response, and he said 
 slowly, " When are y goin t get married? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Kate ; " I ain t thinking of get 
 ting married. Are you ? " 
 
 "No," said Jimmy decidedly; "I ain t. But," 
 suddenly looking her in the face : " did you ever 
 think of marryin Marcus Doran ? " 
 
 " Not on your life ! " returned Kate quickly. She 
 laughed loudly. " Why, I wouldn t marry that 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 62 
 
 stuck-up thing for nothing ! " She laughed again 
 in derision. But Jimmy thought her scorn a little 
 over-done. 
 
 " Well, I wouldn t marry him," he said quite 
 gravely. 
 
 "Why?" asked Kate. This was becoming in 
 teresting. 
 
 "Well, I just wouldn t, that s all," replied 
 Jimmy. Then his lips closed; and Kate knew that 
 it was useless to try to open them. But she made a 
 mental note of one thing Jimmy did not like Mar 
 cus. That made her decide to inspect Marcus for 
 herself. 
 
 That Jimmy did not approve of Marcus was the 
 exact truth. Marcus no longer thrashed Jimmy; 
 indeed, their intercourse was marked by a freedom 
 from violence both of tongue and act which, once, 
 would have branded them as dudes and cowards 
 among their associates. But the hostility between 
 them was not removed. They met quite often; for 
 they were in the same ward, and Brady was fre 
 quently called on by Marcus s employer, who 
 " wanted something arranged " in the way of a 
 municipal contract ; and Jimmy, now and then, acted 
 as ambassador. At these times he was almost sure 
 to come across Marcus, and hear things said about 
 him and to him. All of which made Marcus dislike 
 Jimmy more than ever. 
 
 Then, too, Jimmy knew such a lot about the con- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 63 
 
 tract prices of street paving-, and the wages of the 
 men, and the profits of the contractor, and just 
 where the poorest paving had been laid by Marcus s 
 people, and how narrowly they had escaped a Grand 
 Jury summons as a consequence of charging for re 
 pairs that had not been made. 
 
 And Jimmy distrusted Marcus ; not because of any 
 of these lapses, for they were what everyone ex 
 pected and a perquisite of the municipal contractor 
 but because, in private life as well as public, Marcus 
 w r as one of the great crowd of " slippery ones," and 
 was weak. Jimmy could not get over that worship 
 of personal strength and regard for a promise once 
 made. 
 
 If Jimmy condoned cardinal faults in any one 
 it was in his father. Indeed, he gave much time to 
 shielding the latter from the fruits of his folly. The 
 feeling which made him do this certainly was not a 
 sense of filial duty, and to have called it affection, 
 maybe, would have been to strain a point. " Hank " 
 Devlin did nothing to cultivate love in his son; on 
 the contrary, he abused him regularly, and in 
 creased his daily potations. The secret of his abil 
 ity to recover apparently lost ground at intervals 
 remained with himself and his son. What went on 
 between his father and himself was never mentioned 
 by Jimmy ; and Brady and the rest, perhaps, had not 
 given it a thought until that evening when the thing 
 was poked under their very noses. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 64 
 
 Brady and two other men and Jimmy were seated 
 in Brady s room, waiting for " Hank " Devlin who 
 was to bring in a report. It was in the matter of a 
 candidate of the party for City Councils. Brady 
 had his man for the place picked out ; but he needed 
 funds to start the campaign ball rolling, and among 
 those he counted on drawing upon, was one Joseph 
 Cans, a wealthy merchant, a member of the party 
 and also something of a reformer. Devlin, for 
 various reasons, had seemed to be the most avail 
 able man to interview Cans on this point, and to 
 Devlin the task had been entrusted. It was a deli 
 cate task, too; for Gans s action in this connection 
 was likely to be contagious and Gans s contribution 
 generous. 
 
 Jimmy had said nothing when he heard Brady tell 
 his father what he was to do, but he kept close watch 
 on his father that evening until seven o clock. Then 
 his duties called him to Brady s presence. Devlin 
 was to call on Gans at eight o clock. So, with only 
 an hour intervening, Jimmy thought he could leave 
 his father in safety. Yet, before he went, he said: 
 " Say, see here, Pop ! y don t want t go t Gans s 
 t night if y ain t feeling good. Y ll get y rself in a 
 bad hole, if y do/ 
 
 " Shut up ! " returned Devlin; " an get out a here. 
 I know my business, an I don t want none a y r 
 talk." 
 
 Jimmy said nothing more. But, now, when, an 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 65 
 
 hour late, Devlin came into Brady s room Jimmy 
 knew, at once, what had happened. Devlin was 
 drunk. He walked into the room pretty straight, 
 but immediately dropped into a chair. " Well ? " 
 he said defiantly. 
 
 " Well? " repeated Brady angrily. He saw what 
 was wrong. " What did Cans say? " he demanded. 
 
 " Shaid he wouldn t give a cent t a lot a drunk 
 ards ; that s what he shaid ! " answered Devlin 
 thickly. He was brazen, and glared at Brady. Then, 
 he saw something funny in the situation, and 
 laughed. 
 
 " Shut up ! " cried Brady, beside himself with 
 anger and disappointment at the failure of the mis 
 sion. " Shut up, y drunken loafer ! Y ll pay fur 
 this, fur what y ve done t night ! " 
 
 Jimmy, who sat near Brady, got on his feet. 
 "Say! Mr. Brady," he said; "you re makin 
 a big mistake." His voice was quiet, but there 
 was something in his face that made them all 
 wonder. " You re makin a mistake," he repeated ; 
 " b cause th old man ain t been t see Gans 
 yet." 
 
 "What s that?" grumbled Devlin, stirring from 
 the stupor that had begun to steal over him in the 
 heat of the room. But Jimmy gave no heed to the 
 question. 
 
 Brady turned to Jimmy. "How do y make that 
 out? " he demanded. " What re y givin us ? Ain t 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 66 
 
 he said he s bin there? And didn t he say Gans told 
 him we was ? " 
 
 Jimmy calmly interrupted him. " I heard him 
 say that," he said. " But that ain t nuthin . He 
 don t know where he s been; anybody could see 
 that. And, anyway, I know he ain t been there; T 
 knowed he wasn t goin when I come in here 
 t night." 
 
 "Y did!" exclaimed Brady. "Why didn t y 
 say so, then ? What was th matter ? " 
 
 Jimmy s eye-lids never quivered as he said bluntly, 
 " I told th old man not t go t Gans s when I left 
 him this evening. I saw he d knock us out, if he did." 
 
 " Who toF me not t go ? " broke in Devlin, dimly 
 conscious that he was being spoken of. 
 
 Jimmy remained unmoved by the query and 
 finished, " And y see, I knowed what I was talk 
 ing about." 
 
 Brady stared at Devlin and, then, at Jimmy. He 
 was puzzled. " Y re lyin! " he declared to Jimmy, 
 trying to shake him ; but Jimmy only smiled a little, 
 thin smile, and answered, " Have it y r own way. 
 Only I don t see what s th use of making out that 
 Gans s turned against us when y ain t give him a 
 show t say so." 
 
 It was reasoning in a circle, but the argument 
 struck Brady as plausible. He sat a few seconds 
 without speaking. Devlin s snores told that his 
 energies had been exhausted. " How 11 y find out 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 67 
 
 bout Cans?" Brady suddenly asked, his fears and 
 anger reviving. " Do y think that drunken fool 
 there c d find out? Not much! I m done with him. 
 He slipped up this time, and an he ll never get an 
 other chance from me. He can go t hell, for all I 
 care." 
 
 " Just th same he ll get Gans for y , if he s t be 
 got," returned Jimmy quickly. He looked Brady 
 squarely in the eyes. 
 
 " Who says he will ? " retorted Brady. 
 
 " I do," said Jimmy. 
 
 " You ! " began Brady scornfully, and, then, 
 paused. He reasoned that at least the case could be 
 no worse than it was. " Let s see him do it, then ! " 
 he challenged. 
 
 " All right," returned Jimmy. He walked over 
 to his father. " Come on, Pop ! " he said, shaking 
 him. 
 
 Devlin at last got slowly to his feet. He had 
 reached a state of stupid obedience, and clung to his 
 son s arm. Jimmy walked to the door, one arm se 
 curely locked in his father s elbow. In the doorway 
 he looked over his shoulder at Brady. 
 
 " You ll hear t -morrow night that th old man s 
 got Gans all right," he said, and passed out. 
 
CHAPTER III 68 
 
 JIMMY really deserved a good deal of credit for 
 the way he won over Gans and redeemed his 
 promise to Brady that his father would bring 
 in Gans s contribution to the campaign fund. To be 
 candid, when Jimmy made this promise and aided 
 his father s unsteady feet to carry him from the 
 room, he had only a hazy idea of how he was to go 
 about the thing. Once he got his father into bed, he 
 sat down to think; and, at ten o clock, marched to 
 Gans s house and rang the bell. " Tell Mr. Gans, 
 please, that Jimmy Devlin d like t see him a 
 minute," he said. " Tell him it s about his son," he 
 added. Then he walked into the parlor, for all the 
 world as if he was quite familiar with the house. 
 
 It was the mention of his son which brought Gans 
 down to see Jimmy. The name Devlin had only 
 unpleasant significance. 
 
 Jimmy was standing by the fireplace. " Is y r son 
 at home? " he asked. 
 
 " No, what s th matter? Has anything happened 
 to him ? " replied Gans anxiously. His son was the 
 apple of Gans s eye ; and Jimmy had found this out. 
 as he had planned to do. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 69 
 
 " No," said Jimmy; " he s all right, I guess. But 
 he s been in a bad fix." 
 
 " What s happened? Tell me quick," urged Cans. 
 
 " He upset in th river, and come near bein 
 drownded." declared Jimmy. " But he s safe 
 now," he added. 
 
 " Good Lord! " ejaculated Cans. " Where is he? 
 How did it come about? When was it? " 
 
 " Oh, he wasn t upset t -day ; that was two years 
 ago th fifteenth of last month," explained Jimmy. 
 
 "Two years ago?" repeated Cans. "Here, 
 what are you driving at? Where is my boy, any 
 how ? Speak out, quick ! " 
 
 "Yes," said Jimmy unhurried; "just two years 
 ago th fifteenth of last month. It was on a Sunday 
 afternoon, and / pulled him out. Perhaps, he spoke 
 t you about it ? Wisht he was here now ; he d tell y 
 it was all straight." 
 
 " Where is he? " demanded Cans. A faint recol 
 lection of the incident Jimmy referred to came to 
 him, but, first of all, he must be satisfied that his 
 son was safe. The proceedings were extraordinary ; 
 Jimmy s coolness and sudden revival of an old story 
 made him suspicious of some new danger to his 
 son. 
 
 " I don t know where y r son is t night," Jimmy 
 said. " I just dropped in t see you on my own 
 account ; he asked me t once but I ain t had much 
 time since then." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 70 
 
 Cans drew a sigh of relief and his wonderment 
 grew. He struggled between suspicion of Jimmy s 
 aims and amazement at Jimmy s equanimity. It was 
 the first which led him to say, " Come now ! what are 
 you up to? " 
 
 "Up t ? I ain t up t nuthin ," replied Jimmy. 
 " But I thought y might be glad t see me and I 
 wanted t see you," he added. 
 
 "What about?" asked Cans sharply. 
 
 " Well, about y r son, and pol tics, and my 
 father." 
 
 " What what have they got to do with each 
 other ? " Gans s perplexity grew. 
 
 " It is this way," returned Jimmy. " Y see you 
 think a good deal of your son, and I think th same 
 about my father, an , I thought there might be some- 
 thin comin t me. You remember th old man was 
 round here t night, and he hadn t no business t 
 come, for somebody d gone and got him full. But 
 they told him he had t come, and he did, and you 
 turned him down. Now, what I want t know is, 
 ain t you goin t put him straight on th thing? " 
 
 Gans s face had become serious; he connected 
 Devlin s visit with Jimmy, and he saw how he was 
 being worked upon to reverse his judgment. He 
 had it in mind to tell Jimmy plainly that he was not 
 to be cajoled, into doing what was asked. 
 
 But Jimmy did not let him make that answer. 
 " Th day I see that canoe upset," he remarked, as 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 71 
 
 though refreshing Gans s recollection of the occur 
 rence; " I jumped in and yanked your son out. I 
 wasn t askin nuthin bout what kind of a feller he 
 was, nor what kind you was, neither. I just pulled 
 him out of th wet and he wouldn t a kept up long, 
 if I hadn t done it, I guess." 
 
 " Who put you up to this ? " Gans asked. He was 
 stricken with admiration of Jimmy, and relenting; 
 but his suspicions died hard. It was not until 
 Jimmy fired up, and declared : " Nobody put me up 
 t nothin ! " that he capitulated. There was no de 
 ception in Jimmy s face, Gans told himself; which, 
 as a general observation, was the finest compliment 
 yet paid Jimmy s subtlety, and, in this instance, 
 happened also to be the exact truth. 
 
 "What do you want me to do?" Gans asked, 
 after a moment s reflection. 
 
 " Give Brady something for that campaign fund 
 what my old man asked you for." 
 
 "All right," said Gans slowly; "I ll give it to 
 you, now ; how 11 that do ? " 
 
 " No," returned Jimmy; " th old man 11 come 
 round t morrow night, and, if it s all th same t 
 you, I wisht y give it t him" 
 
 " Yes, I ll do that; but what for? " replied Gans; 
 and, when Jimmy laughed and said, " Oh, nuthin ! " 
 Gans wondered still more. He perceived faintly 
 that there were depths in Jimmy which it was not 
 permitted him to sound. He had a notion that he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 72 
 
 would like to know more of this young man. " Come 
 round and see me soon," he said to Jimmy at the 
 door. " I may have something for you to do," he 
 added. 
 
 " Thank y / answered Jimmy. " I ll come round 
 and see y , but I got all I can do now. I m workin 
 with Brady." 
 
 And it was working with Brady rather than for 
 Brady that Jimmy was doing then, and continued to 
 do for some years. His father died from too 
 zealous pursuit of bar-room politics and Jimmy 
 set up for himself in a modest little room in his old 
 neighborhood. But almost all of his hours were 
 spent in Brady s company, and it was not long be 
 fore Brady himself began to say, " Jimmy thinks 
 this," and " Jimmy said he wouldn t do that." It 
 was a habit easy to fall into when one enjoyed 
 Jimmy s companionship and counsel for any length 
 of time. Jimmy had not developed domineering 
 ways, but he had a quiet air of certainty about him 
 that was wonderfully convincing, and his scorn was 
 something fine. It underran his words and, de 
 tecting it, one suddenly forgot Jimmy s stature and 
 felt crushed. Fortunately, too, for Jimmy, as his 
 juvenility wore off it was succeeded by few of the 
 affectations of the young man. There was a great 
 deal of hard common sense in him ; and, besides, he 
 had such an overwhelming appreciation of the 
 ridiculous that, now and then, he laughed at himself 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 73 
 
 when others took him most seriously as he, indeed, 
 had meant to take himself at the moment. 
 
 But it was not only by counsel that Jimmy began 
 to make for himself the place in the political world 
 which he was to fill later on with such conspicuous 
 success. He was being trained in a school which 
 used no books; hard knocks cured the learner of 
 follies; the prizes were inexhaustible and rich, and 
 the lessons were taught at the polls, in the rooms 
 of the ward leaders and at the street corners. From 
 the day that Jimmy became Brady s errand boy and 
 messenger he saw it was by studying the weaknesses 
 of other men that one made himself strong. After 
 all, be the issue what it might and the principle at 
 stake right or wrong, it was the strongest man that 
 won in the end; for the laborer was worthy of his 
 hire. So Jimmy began to study men and, conse 
 quently, was always among men. It was not long 
 before he knew them all by name, and, within a few 
 years, these names were so many labels to particu 
 lar qualities and phases of usefulness. In this re 
 spect Jimmy only carried the methods of Brady 
 and the rest a step further, and, by his quick per 
 ceptions and that trustworthy ally, his memory, was 
 able to suggest a course of action, or to fix 
 his position more speedily than were those around 
 him. 
 
 One of the first conclusions he arrived at a 
 lonely reflection of Sunday School days was that 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 74 
 
 Goliath would have been a poor politician, but that 
 David, probably, would have made a good one. Not 
 because David was brave and the champion of the 
 oppressed, but because his weapon had a longer 
 range than Goliath s. He put the opinion to Brady 
 thus, one night when Brady was trying to draw him 
 out and he was willing to be drawn : 
 
 " There s no use tryin t lick a feller that s got th 
 stone-pile all t himself. It s a great sight better t 
 let him chase y till y light on a stone-pile fur 
 y rself." 
 
 " There ain t much nerve in doin that," scoffed 
 Brady, to see what would be the answer. 
 
 " Nerve s all right when y got t take medicine ; 
 but I d rather not get laid up," Jimmy replied. 
 " When you got th rocks t fire at th other feller 
 then y can even up on th nerve business." 
 
 "Smash em! that s what I say," chimed in 
 Brady. 
 
 " But don t get in trouble doin it ! " cautioned 
 Jimmy. " Now, I d rather not use any rocks at all, 
 myself," he went on. " Y re too liable t break a 
 window, and be pulled in for it. Th best way is t 
 get th other feller t throw th rocks and keep close t 
 a window y rself. Then, by and by, when a window 
 i? cracked, you can stand round an let somebody 
 else do th fighting for y ." 
 
 Brady laughed. " Y re a good law-abidin citizen, 
 ain t ye , Jimmy ? " he said mockingly. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 75 
 
 "Yes, I d stick by th laws," returned Jimmy; 
 " but I d see th laws was th right kind." Jimmy s 
 smile as he said this was beautiful to see. 
 
 The opinion tickled Brady. It was a good deal 
 to his own way of thinking; but, not being gifted 
 with more than average ingenuity, the first failure 
 of his strategy made him resort to violence. It was 
 in this respect that he was weak. Jimmy taught 
 him that at the primary elections one autumn. 
 
 There was the beginning of a reform movement 
 in the ward. The Citizens League had come into 
 existence, and, wonderful to relate, had held to 
 gether and got out of its swaddling clothes. Now, 
 it was doing some daring things, talking about a 
 good many more it was going to do, and, here and 
 there, giving annoyance to the " regulars " among 
 the politicians. Brady, up to this time, had not been 
 seriously interfered with by it. But, during the 
 summer, the League had worked energetically 
 among the voters of the Twelfth Ward, and ex 
 pected, with some reason, to carry the elections there 
 in a number of the districts. Brady was for intimi 
 dating the League s workers. 
 
 " Give em a good scare, an they ll run," he de 
 clared. He knew of a score of "bruisers" who 
 would delight in the thing. 
 
 Jimmy objected. " You re likely t r run up against 
 a snag," he said. " They re onto that game. Even 
 if th police want t keep their eyes shut, they ll have 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 76 
 
 t keep em open this time; th League s watching 
 th police and us, too." 
 
 Then, Brady spoke of another way. He did not 
 say so in as many words, for that was never done, 
 but everyone knew that he meant that something 
 might happen to the ballot boxes if occasion 
 demanded. 
 
 Jimmy again objected. "What s th use?" he 
 said. " We can vote enough men t down em." 
 
 " Not with those watchers " ; returned Brady. 
 He was rather glad to be able to answer Jimmy 
 with his own words. 
 
 " Why not give th watchers something else 
 t j think about?" suggested Jimmy, unembarrassed. 
 
 " What do y mean? How re y goin t do it? " 
 asked Brady. 
 
 " Oh, I don t know. I ain t thought much about 
 it yet. But all y got t do is t give em something t 
 amuse em; I bet they d trip up, if y give em half 
 a chance." 
 
 " Well, go ahead, an trip em up, f y can," re 
 turned Brady. " Only don t y J get us in a hole." 
 The caution was not needed, and Brady should have 
 known it. But he was a little sore over Jimmy s ob 
 jections to his plans. " I ll fix it so we won t get 
 left in th end," he concluded. 
 
 So it was understood. Brady would see that 
 enough votes were " counted in " for his candidates 
 to secure their nomination failing an actual deposit 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 77 
 
 of those votes at the polls. And Jimmy Jimmy 
 was to do what he could to check interference at the 
 polling places that is interference with the men 
 who came there prepared to vote often enough to 
 make Brady s candidates successful. 
 
 On the evening of the primary elections Jimmy 
 was moving about the polling places at which it was 
 known that the Citizens League would concentrate 
 its efforts. At these places he soon picked out two 
 well dressed young men who were acting as " watch 
 ers " for the League. One of these was young Gans 
 whom Jimmy had once rescued. Their business was 
 to stop " repeating" (the casting of more than one 
 vote by each man) and to see that no> one who was 
 not on the official list of voters deposited a vote. 
 They were alert and well informed apparently, and 
 as Jirnmy was aware, were within their rights in 
 doing what they did. As it was they were a serious 
 menace to the interests of Brady. After Jimmy had 
 seen them stop and turn back, or " protest " half a 
 dozen men who came up to vote, he thought the 
 occasion ripe to act. 
 
 The next time that they approached an intending 
 voter Jimmy went up to the police officer nearby. 
 " There s those fellers," he said. " Now, run em in. 
 You know th charge." 
 
 The officer stepped up to the young men. " Y ll 
 have t come with me/ he said. " Y re under 
 arrest." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 78 
 
 " Nonsense ! " returned young Cans. " Non 
 sense ! " We re doing what we ve a right to do, 
 and you know it. We re duly appointed watch 
 ers of the Citizens League. We re entirely within 
 the law. If you arrest us, you do it at your peril." 
 
 " That s all right," said the officer. " I know 
 what I m doin . I ve been watchin you two. Come 
 along! Y can make y r kick at th station house." 
 
 The men protested again. Then one of them got 
 angry and was for resisting the officer; Cans per 
 suaded him that this would be a mistake. They 
 walked with the officer to the station house, a crowd 
 following and having plenty of fun at their expense. 
 Jimmy, discreetly, had kept in the background; 
 neither of the men knew that he had had a hand in 
 their arrest. 
 
 " What s th charge? " asked the house sergeant. 
 
 " Impersonatin an officer," answered the police 
 man who had brought them in. 
 
 " Wliat ? " exclaimed Cans. But the officer went 
 on imperturbably : " They was telling voters t move 
 on." 
 
 " What have you got t say ? " demanded the ser 
 geant, addressing the men. 
 
 " That we weren t impersonating an officer, that 
 we haven t broken any law, and that we were simply 
 doing our duty as regularly appointed watchers 
 of the Citizens League to assist in preventing illegal 
 voting," replied Cans quickly. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 79 
 
 " What have y got t prove y r charge, officer ? " 
 asked the sergeant. 
 
 " This here ! " replied the policeman. Before 
 either of the prisoners could resist the movement he 
 had pulled open the coat of the nearest of them and 
 disclosed a detective s badge, pinned on the lapel of 
 the vest. Its wearer lost command of himself. 
 
 The sergeant drew in his breath sharply. " How 
 comes it y re wearin this? " he said. " Are you an 
 officer?" 
 
 " I demand that we be taken before a magistrate," 
 said Gans who seemed to have his wits about him. 
 " We won t answer any questions here; and you ve 
 got to give us a regular hearing." 
 
 The sergeant knew that the demand was a proper 
 "one one that he could not, with safety, refuse. He 
 told the officer to take the men to the magistrate of 
 that district. Jimmy ran ahead to the magistrate s; 
 but, when they arrived, he was outside, and followed 
 them in. 
 
 The magistrate made quick work of the case. He 
 heard the officer, he heard the men, and he examined 
 the badge. " I ll commit you for a further hearing," 
 he said. " If you are watchers for the Citizens 
 League they will identify you, and, perhaps, they 
 can explain about this badge. Take them out, 
 officer ! " The officer " took them out." 
 
 Jimmy hastened to the polls. But there was no 
 need of his services there now. Brady s men voted 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 80 
 
 as often and as freely as they wanted, and Jimmy 
 knew that Brady would not be called on to adopt 
 his radical plan of " adjusting " the vote. So he 
 strolled back to headquarters. 
 
 " How s everything goin ? " asked Brady. 
 
 " All serene," answered Jimmy. " Any one can 
 count th ballots in th boxes I saw being filled. Our 
 man s got a solid majority." 
 
 "How do y know?" 
 
 " Saw th votes put in." 
 
 " But what about them League watchers? Was 
 they blind?" 
 
 " No, but they wasn t there but a little while; they 
 got cold and went indoors." 
 
 "What rey gettin at?" 
 
 " Oh, nuthin . Only they was so anxious t get 
 all th cards in their hands that I just helped em t 
 a few of mine; and my cards was marked." 
 
 Jimmy was in particularly good humor, but af 
 fected unconcern. Brady was one of those with 
 whom such a cheap deceit had effect. " It was this 
 way," went on Jimmy. " They was goin t make 
 everything dead sure this time, they thought; and 
 so they hired that detective, Kelly t go along with 
 em and help em in their spottin . I heard that, and 
 I put Kelly ont a game. He got t talkin t em 
 about how useful a detective s badge was, and Cans 
 one of th fellers, that thinks he s as smart as y 
 make em, said it would be a good idea t get a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 81 
 
 badge like that, and wear it. He asked Kelly if it 
 couldn t be managed. Kelly laid off and said it 
 might get him in trouble. But, by and by, he caved 
 in, and one of em got th badge. They promised 
 Kelly they d keep it hid, and only show it if they 
 had t . Kelly told me what d happened, and I put 
 th officer at th place they was at ont th thing, early 
 in th evenin . When I dropped round, later, I seen 
 those fellers gettin in their fine work, knocking out 
 our men. Then I give th signal t th officer, and 
 he pulled em in. Of course, I had th sergeant 
 primed, and I put th magistrate ont it as soon as 
 I heard they was goin there. Kelly had cleared out 
 when they was nabbed; and they ll stand by him, 
 any way. He s got th call on em, for he give em 
 a song an dance about th risk he was runnin . 
 So, now, they re in th station house where they re 
 likely t spend a part of th night, and and, when 
 they re got out, it won t make no difference t us, 
 anyway." 
 
 Brady, listening to this recital, secretly confessed 
 that there still were a number of things in political 
 strategy which he had to learn. Which, by the way, 
 was a modest statement of Jimmy s personal opinion 
 of Brady. 
 
CHAPTER IV 82 
 
 EARLY one afternoon about two weeks later 
 Jimmy went to his room to pack a satchel. 
 Brady wanted him to go up to the State 
 Capital to see about the contract for some school 
 supplies out of which he expected to reap the politi 
 cal middleman s share of profit. But Jimmy missed 
 the train which he should have taken on that day. 
 
 On his bureau he found a letter bearing the date 
 of the day before. He recognized the handwriting 
 at once, and tore open the envelope. The letter was 
 as follows : 
 
 " DEAR JIMMY : When you get this I ll be Mrs. 
 Marcus Doran. I ve been thinking about it a good 
 while and I d told you about it only I knew you 
 wouldn t like it. That s the only reason I m kind of 
 sorry. But I m making up for keeping it such a 
 secret by telling you now, before anyone else knows 
 anything about it. It is a dead secret and even 
 Marcus doesn t know I m writing this to you. We ve 
 run away, across the river ; we can get married there 
 without making any fuss the way Marcus wanted. 
 Come round and see us as soon as we get back. I 
 want you to like Marcus better, and you will - 
 when I m Mrs. Marcus Doran instead of 
 
 " KATE MAYNE." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 83 
 
 Jimmy read this letter twice without pause. At 
 first he almost thought it might be one of Kate s 
 jokes; she was always trying to plague him. But 
 soon he understood that it was written earnestly, and 
 he leaned against the window frame, looking down 
 into the street and seeing nothing there, while a 
 great many things passed swiftly through his mind. 
 For the first time since his manhood days he felt a 
 curious stirring at his heart which hurt him. Some 
 how, he hated himself because this thing had come 
 to pass. He wondered if he could have prevented 
 it, if he had known about it in advance. But, then, 
 he gave himself a shake, and all his thoughts became 
 centered on Kate and on what she had done and what 
 would come of it. 
 
 Kate, the high-spirited, the clever, the ambitious, 
 married ! He could hardly realize it. And to Mar 
 cus whose spirits were most often nothing more than 
 loud words, whose cleverness was a very doubtful 
 craftiness, whose ambitions were little more than 
 greed ! Marcus who was shifty and selfish ! It was 
 Marcus who once had declared in Jimmy s hearing, 
 " Only a fool lets a girl coax him int marryin her." 
 Yet this was the same Marcus who had now married 
 a girl whom, Jimmy told himself, he had treated all 
 along with indifference. But had he? Jimmy re 
 membered incidents that brought him up sharply. 
 Suddenly, he understood that self-occupation had 
 made him blind to many things about Kate and 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 84 
 
 Marcus. He was surprised to discover how stupid 
 he had been. 
 
 He could almost recall the day now on which 
 Kate had said to him, " Marcus ain t so bad. He s 
 beginning to take notice of things." She laughed in 
 a peculiar way that meant nothing to Jimmy at the 
 time, for he was very busy just then with some plans 
 of his own. Later on he had come upon Marcus, 
 one evening, escorting Kate to a dance, and she had 
 given Jimmy a saucy nod and immediately had 
 something exceedingly confidential to say to her 
 companion. Jimmy had almost remembered to 
 speak to Kate about that snub, but he had not done 
 it. Again, once when Jimmy had come to call upon 
 her, she had told him over the banisters that she was 
 going out, and would he come in some other time? 
 No day was mentioned and her voice was very im 
 patient Jimmy had noticed that. But, while this 
 was not the way Kate had been used to treat him, 
 any disappointment he felt was obliterated by the 
 pressure of other subjects upon his attention. The 
 nearest he could remember to having come to a 
 realization of the truth was one afternoon when, driv 
 ing through the Park, with some visiting politicians, 
 they had passed a smart looking buggy. It was 
 drawn up at the side of an unfrequented road. In it 
 were Marcus and Kate. They were deeply inter 
 ested in each other s company. Jimmy had taken 
 off his hat unnoticed by either of them. Chagrin 
 
J DEVLIN BOSS 85 
 
 might have worked upon his feelings at this 
 discomfiture, if he had had less distinguished per 
 sons as his guests. As it was 
 
 He checked his reminiscences. What was the use 
 of all this now? The thing was done. Kate was 
 married, and he (Jimmy) was very busy with the 
 affairs of his own life. At the present moment he 
 had an important and delicate piece of business to 
 transact. With a little sigh, of which he was scarcely 
 conscious, he folded the letter slowly, put it into 
 his pocket, and began to pack his satchel. But it 
 took a long time to pick out the few articles he 
 wanted. Now and then, he found himself standing 
 inactive with some piece of clothing in his hand, 
 his mind wandering over things furthest removed 
 from the packing of a satchel or the details of a con 
 tract for school supplies. Again, he was standing 
 by the window, gazing vacantly across the house 
 
 tops, wondering where ? It could be nothing 
 
 else than where he would be if he had not missed 
 that train to the State Capital. So, with each re 
 covery of himself, he pursed his lips and shook his 
 head angrily. 
 
 But, for some time afterward, these spells of unac 
 countable preoccupation overtook Jimmy, and he 
 had to bring himself smartly to book by application 
 to his immediate duties and plans. Indeed he came 
 so to fear the influence of this subtle abstraction 
 that, lest he might stimulate it, he did not go to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 86 
 
 see Kate and Marcus for several weeks after they 
 returned from their wedding trip. He was too busy 
 to go, he reasoned. 
 
 Kate and Marcus had rented one of a row of tiny, 
 two-story, brick houses not far from Jimmy s rooms. 
 Marcus was prospering. His position with the firm 
 of contractors had become an important one. He 
 was a good deal among politicians; occasionally, he 
 and Jimmy came upon one another. But no words 
 were wasted between them. 
 
 Kate was like a bird with a nest to line. She was 
 always at home, running up and down stairs, fixing 
 this and that, a dozen times changing the place of 
 some piece of furniture, cocking her head sideways 
 to determine the effect of a picture or hanging. She 
 sang all day to herself. She was in the Heaven 
 of her girlish dreams. In the morning she clung to 
 Marcus till the last moment, and, with jealous eyes, 
 watched him swagger down the street. She was at 
 the window when he returned in the evening; bis 
 latchkey became almost a superfluity to him. All of 
 the joy which Kate did not find in Marcus s big 
 figure, black eyes and indulgent approval of her, she 
 found in the six rooms which made up her world. 
 Even Jimmy passed from her mind for the time 
 being. 
 
 Then, one day, she came upon him on the street, 
 and she recollected with a little pang how she had 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 87 
 
 neglected him. " Oh, Jimmy ! " she exclaimed as he 
 took her hand. " Won t you come and see us? " 
 
 Jimmy s eyes twinkled. " It s real kind of you t 
 remember my name," he said stiffly. 
 
 Kate was penitent. " Oh, you know " she 
 
 began. 
 
 " Yes, I know," remarked Jimmy significantly. 
 
 " But you didn t let me finish," she protested. 
 " I was going to say that I ve been busy fixing up 
 the house and all that sort of thing. I didn t want 
 anybody to see it till it was done. But now it s 
 ready. Won t you come ? " 
 
 " Yes, I ll come to-night," replied Jimmy. 
 
 And come he did. Marcus said " Good evening " 
 to him, remarked that he had an errand to do down 
 town, and left. Jimmy gave no sign that he was 
 disturbed, and Kate that evening, for the first time, 
 found herself talking of other things than Marcus 
 and the house. When she realized this, after Jimmy 
 was gone, she was puzzled to say how it had been. 
 
 But Jimmy did not repeat his visit, and, when 
 next she saw him, Kate chided him for his delin 
 quency. "When are you coming in again?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " Don t know. I m afraid of makin Marcus 
 worse." 
 
 " Marcus worse ? " echoed Kate. 
 
 " Yes," said Jimmy, wagging his head. " His 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 88 
 
 eyesight s failin , and every time he comes across me 
 it seems t get worse." 
 
 Kate s pretty eyebrows drew together. Then, 
 various remarks made by Marcus about Jimmy re 
 curred to her. She laughed to cover her confusion. 
 But Jimmy made no mistake about that laugh. He 
 knew that Marcus s dislike for him was a real dis 
 appointment to her. He was sorry for this. He 
 was quite sure that her hope of making them friends 
 would never be fulfilled. He believed that Kate, 
 deep down in her heart, acknowledged as much. 
 Marcus made no effort to conceal his animosity; 
 Jimmy s face grew hard when he saw Marcus. In 
 deed, it was for Kate s sake that Jimmy kept out of 
 Marcus s way as much as he could, and had plausible 
 excuses when Kate rebuked him for not calling more 
 often. 
 
 Marcus, for some time, believed himself perfectly 
 happy in his home, and contented with his success 
 elsewhere. He was making money; he generally 
 managed to add something to his regular earnings 
 by secret manipulation of contracts. Among his 
 associates he was spoken of as " a sharp one." They 
 patted him on the back, and he spent his money 
 freely among them. He delighted to affect the ways 
 of " a good fellow." All his acquaintances declared 
 that he was " dead lucky." For a while, it was 
 amusing and flattered his vanity to say to them, " I 
 guess I won t be with you t night. My wife 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 89 
 
 jealous as she can be. Can t break her in all at once, 
 you know." 
 
 It was his habit, when he came home, to stretch 
 himself out, and let Kate wait on him. She was so 
 anxious to do it, he felt that he was quite indulgent. 
 Like some big dog he took possession of the most 
 comfortable lounging place and blinked his eyes 
 while she ministered to his wants, now hurrying 
 supper, now fetching him an old coat, now a cigar or 
 pipe. And he would drop her a lazy word of ap 
 proval. " You re a pretty good sort of a wife, 
 Kate," he would say. "You ain t any fool; you 
 know how t keep a man at home, don t you? " 
 
 He accepted her adoration as one of the pleasant 
 things to which his support of her entitled him. He 
 wasn t exactly ungrateful. He appreciated her good 
 qualities in an indolent fashion at first ; then took her 
 care of his comfort more and more for granted, or 
 did not bother himself about it. 
 
 But, by and by, down-town there was an occa 
 sional laugh when Marcus referred to his wife or 
 made excuses for not joining a party. Then Mar 
 cus began to awake to the fact that he was an ex 
 ceptional husband. He questioned whether Kate 
 valued him as she should. Her watch over his ease 
 showed that she was clever, not unselfish, he told 
 himself. His joke about her schemes to> keep him 
 with her ceased to be a joke. He was spoiling her, 
 he decided; she was taking advantage of his good 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 90 
 
 nature. He meant that she should see that he was 
 aware of this; at least, it would make her esteem 
 him more highly. So he took her to task frequently 
 when she did not promptly anticipate his desires, and 
 was less appreciative of what she did. Next he in 
 formed her that he was entirely too much at home, 
 any way. She must teach herself to get along 
 without him. All of which, much to his gratifica 
 tion, had the effect he thought it would. 
 
 Kate s affection was alarmed. She redoubled her 
 attentions to his comfort. She convinced him that 
 he had been too amiable, and that he had only to 
 quicken her, now and tfien, with a complaint or 
 threat to secure fresh consideration. This was a 
 game suited to Marcus s taste; and, for a time, he 
 was satisfied with the diversion it afforded. But, 
 when Kate had lavished on him all that devotion and 
 thoughtfulness could suggest, he began to be sur 
 feited. Her mindfulness annoyed him. 
 
 " Go away ! Don t worry me with all that truck ! " 
 he would tell her when she brought him a cushion 
 for his chair, or tried to put a scarf around his neck 
 of a cold morning. He would follow such rebukes 
 with a laugh, and sometimes would make careless 
 amends with a caress. But, several times he went 
 off in the morning without kissing her, partly from 
 forgetfulness, partly because she irritated him by 
 clinging to him. Presently, he decided that not to 
 kiss her had a good effect. When she reminded 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 91 
 
 him of the omission he kissed her impatiently, or 
 lightly told her to wait till he came home. He did 
 not know that, on such mornings, she cried after 
 he had gone; if he had known it, it might have 
 made him momentarily repentant. But it would 
 not have made him depart from the course along 
 which he was assuredly drifting, idly at first, then of 
 intention. 
 
 He was soon quite sure that Kate needed to be 
 " broken in." He was entitled to a freer rein ; he 
 must make a stand or she would restrict his liberty 
 still more. Marcus grew philosophic, reflecting on 
 this. Somehow, it never occurred to Kate that phil 
 osophy had any bearing on the situation. 
 
 But about this time came the baby, and with it 
 the birth of a great hope in Kate s breast. The 
 baby was a boy; she named it John after her father 
 who, with her mother, long since dead, was but a 
 faint memory, yet one in sharp contrast to her recol 
 lection of her aunt that harsh, illiterate old woman 
 who had been her nominal protector before Marcus 
 carried her off. 
 
 The baby was a fat, lusty fellow, and his cries 
 echoed through the house. Marcus was dum- 
 founded by the baby s appearance; when he was 
 told it was the image of himself, he made some pom 
 pous predictions for its future as he planned it. But, 
 between its smiling, rosy, crowing moods and the 
 later continuous-variety-performance of lamenta- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 92 
 
 tions, cramp-contorted gymnastics and fretful, low- 
 keyed wailing over the woes of cutting teeth, he de 
 clared that there should be longer periods of rest. 
 The baby, as a toy that worked, was interesting to 
 him in idle moments; but the baby, not consenting 
 to be a marionette, he soon lost patience with it and, 
 then, his interest in it. 
 
 To Kate the baby was a living joy. She was ever 
 occupied in learning the lessons it taught her; in 
 identifying those hundreds of little actions and 
 sounds and expressions for each one of which her 
 heart bade her look and her love supplied a name. 
 Like a flower unfolding itself before her, the baby 
 with every day disclosed to her mother-eyes depths 
 of purity and beauty and promise that" were hid to 
 all grosser visions. So, revelling in these, her ec 
 stasy made sweeter by the fears that smote her with 
 every sign of mortal frailty in the baby, she forgot 
 to be troubled by what had hurt her so cruelly be 
 fore. With her it was always the baby first, 
 Marcus next. And it was often only Marcus, then, 
 to pour into his ears what the baby had whispered 
 to her when they two were alone. 
 
 So, insensibly, she fell in with Marcus s desires, 
 and, before she knew it, had let slip from her the 
 chance, if chance there was, to hold him to her. 
 When she realized what a gap lay between their old 
 life and the new, her desperate efforts to bridge the 
 gap earned for her scoffs that wounded her none 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 93 
 
 the less because Marcus called them " common- 
 sense " not " silly trash/ 
 
 She fled to the baby s side, and, with its fuzzy 
 head against her cheek, said she was recompensed. 
 But was she? At least, she was content to spend 
 more time alone. She had never had many girl 
 friends; the few such friendships died of inani 
 mation after she married. As for Jimmy she saw 
 him almost not at all. 
 
 Jimmy, without forgetting Kate, it is to be con 
 fessed, was too busy to ponder on their separation, 
 as, perhaps, he should have done. When he heard 
 of the arrival of the baby he sent a token of his con 
 gratulation in the form of a mug. It was a mag 
 nificent affair, quite a masterpiece of the silver 
 smith s art. The salesman had suggested to Jimmy 
 a plain mug with a monogram. Jimmy was deri 
 sive. His own ideas were somewhat vague; but 
 the salesman was quick of perception. So the cup 
 was ordered and made of large size, frosted and 
 a net-work of engraving, Cupids everywhere, a cor 
 nucopia of flowers; scrolls unrolling from brim to 
 bottom, and on one of these, " Welcome Little 
 Stranger," and on the other " For John Doran from 
 J. Devlin ", and the date. Also, by way of a 
 handle, there was an outstretched dog trying to 
 drink from the cup s edge. The affinity of dogs and 
 boys was very clear to Jimmy s mind. The mug 
 weighed about a pound. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 94 
 
 Kate was delighted with the gift. She had mis 
 givings of its immediate usefulness to the baby, but 
 that was beside the point. So she closed the baby s 
 curling, fat fingers on it, and supported it in front 
 of his face. The baby was terror-stricken at the 
 sight of so much shining metal, and the cup was re 
 moved and placed in its satin-lined box on the man 
 tel-shelf. 
 
 Marcus said " Humph!" when the mug was 
 shown to him; but Kate wrote a begging letter to 
 Jimmy; and Jimmy answered it in person one eve 
 ning when Marcus was out an opportunity not 
 hard to find. 
 
 Kate, her face radiant, took him into the sitting 
 room on the second floor where she could hear the 
 baby in the communicating room, if he cried. 
 
 Jimmy was in high spirits. It gave him a queer 
 little feeling that was partly regret of what might 
 have been, partly rejoicing at being called into 
 Kate s confidence once more, to be sitting alone with 
 her here. A suggestion of reserve tinged her man 
 ner; he almost caught an apologetic tone in her 
 greeting which surprised him. Otherwise, she and 
 he might have been the Kate and Jimmy of news 
 paper days. 
 
 By and by, he demanded to see the baby and 
 Kate took him into the next room. But he must be 
 very quiet. Jimmy went on tip-tae to the side of 
 the crib. " He s asleep," whispered Kate. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 95 
 
 " No, he ain t," said Jimmy. " He s playin off; 
 I just saw him wink at me." 
 
 Kate laughed softly, and shook her head. But 
 the baby belied her judgment. He blinked several 
 times at Jimmy s face bent over him in the half 
 light, then set his eyes in a round stare. 
 
 " I told you so," said Jimmy, and, with cautious 
 finger, tickled the baby s cheeks. " Why, he s a 
 reg lar little monkey, ain t he? " he remarked. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," returned Kate quickly. " And 
 aren t his nose and hair sweet ? Look at them ! " 
 
 " I m lookin for em, as hard as I can," replied 
 Jimmy; "but, I guess he don t wear em at night." 
 
 " He s got more nose than you have, anyway ! " 
 retorted Kate. 
 
 " That s so," admitted Jimmy ruefully. " And 
 he ll grow," he added trying to say something to 
 placate her. He looked hard at the baby for a mo 
 ment in silence, then turned to Kate. " What re 
 you goin t do with him when he grows up? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " I don t know exactly," said Kate, slowly. 
 The future was something she avoided being too 
 sure about. 
 
 " Well, I tell you," went on Jimmy, straightening 
 up ; " I tell you what I wisht you d do. I wisht you d 
 let me have him, when he s ready t start in. I 
 don t know but what I could give him a boost. Un 
 lessof course his his father ." He did not 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 96 
 
 finish the sentence, and Kate did not ask what he 
 was going to say. 
 
 " Maybe, I will," she answered. " But he s got 
 a good many years with me first." 
 
 Back in the sitting room again, Jimmy sat for 
 several minutes without speaking, his eyes travel 
 ing over the room and then coming to rest on Kate. 
 She did not understand his look. It was almost 
 wistful, and Jimmy wistful was a stranger. She did 
 not know what to say. And Jimmy, all at once, ap 
 peared to realize that he was behaving queerly. 
 She thought she heard him sigh, but that, of course, 
 was a mistake. " A home s a mighty good sort of a 
 place, ain t it?" he said. 
 
 " Yes," she admitted, though to say so sounded 
 like mockery to her. 
 
 " It s so kind a kind a different from other 
 places," explained Jimmy. 
 
 " How do you mean? " asked Kate. 
 
 " Oh, I don t know," he answered, a little embar 
 rassed; and, then, more slowly and earnestly, 
 " Only it s so quiet, and sort a peaceful, and it s 
 because it s all your own, I guess. Why, do you 
 know? I feel just like I was way off from th rest 
 of things, and, somehow, I don t want t move. 
 Ain t that funny? You might think I was losin 
 my grip on things," he added, attempting a laugh. 
 
 " Yes, I m gettin on," he soliloquized in such a 
 tone of self-pity that she laughed at him. Then, he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 97 
 
 reminded her of something that had happened years 
 before. He asked her if she recalled the day when 
 he squashed a pumpkin pie on " Snapper " Smith s 
 head; and she told him exactly how it came about. 
 Then, she asked him if he knew what had become 
 of " Sneak " Patterson, and that brought to mind 
 some things that seemed to have happened but yes 
 terday. He gave a graphic account of them, in sev 
 eral particulars of which she had to correct him. 
 And so it went on. Once or twice, the reminis 
 cences approached a scene in which Marcus figured, 
 but, at such times, they became disjointed, and the 
 thread of the narrative was taken up further on. 
 These were moments too bright to admit shadows. 
 Together in the cool, darkened room, they raced the 
 streets again and sold papers, or fished and played 
 pirates on the river front. 
 
 But, presently, the baby began to cry, and Kate 
 went in and vainly tried to calm it. So she brought 
 it out into the sitting-room a pink and white mor 
 sel, with doubled fists. She walked up and down, 
 crooning to it. But the baby had other views. 
 Its eyes remained wide open; it insisted on joining 
 the circle. 
 
 Jimmy who had been looking on with some awe, 
 began to fidget on his chair. Half a dozen times he 
 twisted about and made an articulate sound which, 
 to Kate s ears, resembled " Let " more than any 
 thing else. As often, he got no further, and faced 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 98 
 
 the window. Kate began to regard him in some 
 alarm, and apologized for the baby. 
 
 Suddenly, Jimmy got up, and a great resolve was 
 written on his face. He took a step toward Kate. 
 " Say, supposin supposin Say, let me hold it 
 him th baby a minute, won t you ? " he blurted 
 out. Now he was crimson, and he laughed nerv 
 ously. He extended his arms. 
 
 Kate instinctively hugged the baby the tighter, 
 watching Jimmy with apprehension. Then, her face 
 softened, and she started toward him. All at once, 
 Jimmy had the baby in his arms. 
 
 He held it awkwardly, one arm under its legs, 
 the other circling its body beneath the shoulders. 
 But his clasp was firm, and it seemed the baby 
 knew this. It gave a gurgle of delight and caught 
 at Jimmy s chin. Jimmy s expression was beatific. 
 Slowly his arms were raised until the baby s head 
 rested against his breast. 
 
 Kate remained silent; a realization of something 
 missing, something infinitely tender and comforting 
 choked her. Jimmy s figure swam in a mist of tears 
 that she brushed away unseen by him. And Jimmy 
 stood silent, looking on the baby, everything about 
 him forgotten, and thinking ? No one else ever 
 knew what things were in his mind. 
 
 So spell-bound were these three that they heard 
 nothing; and, suddenly, Marcus stood in the door 
 way. He halted there, and his lips curled. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 99 
 
 Jimmy started at sight of him, said " Good eve 
 ning," and gave the baby back to Kate. He turned 
 to look for his hat. Marcus spoke. 
 
 " Quite a little family party," he said. " Don t 
 let me interrupt y ." 
 
 " Not a bit," answered Jimmy cheerily. " You 
 came just in time. That baby s been fooled th 
 worst kind, and th little rascal never knew it." 
 
CHAPTER V 100 
 
 JIMMY walked home that night, for the first 
 time in many months, his mind on anything 
 but politics, again and again wondering that 
 so soft a thing as a baby s head should make that 
 deep, warm hollow in one s breast where still it 
 almost seemed to lie. It was not until he was 
 dressed and out on the street the next morning that 
 this ridiculous impression was gone. Yet any one 
 of those who returned Jimmy s brisk nod as he 
 stepped along and they often were a dozen to a 
 block would have laughed at the suggestion that 
 a thought not bearing on the immediate interests of 
 Jimmy in things political could find lodgment in his 
 busy brain. 
 
 For now Jimmy gave orders. 
 
 With quiet, steady persistence he had forced him 
 self into notice while he yet worked Brady s will; 
 but had said nothing to indicate that he had am 
 bition beyond this until that day when, straight and 
 clear before him, broke the parting of the ways. 
 Then he leaped to the front, and took the path which 
 he had made up his mind to take long before. And 
 this it was, all because Brady was stubborn and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 101 
 
 would try to put the curb on Jimmy and would not 
 hearken to Jimmy s advice. 
 
 Jimmy had been over one evening to see Sam 
 Showell who held the Tenth Ward under his big 
 fist and wore a diamond in his shirt front as badge 
 of his office. Showell was ten years Jimmy s senior ; 
 but, for all, as firm a believer in Jimmy as he was 
 secretly an enemy of Brady. It was partly on this 
 account, partly because there were qualities in 
 Showell for which he had respect that, about 
 this time, Jimmy had many little talks with Showell 
 of which Brady knew not the purport. 
 
 It was from one of such consultations that Jimmy 
 was going home on this night, and, when near to 
 his rooms, turned in at Mat Casey s saloon to give 
 a message to Casey. Casey was a little, lean Irish 
 man, with a face creased by the smiles that were 
 always running over it and a tongue as nimble as 
 tongue ever was. He was a particular friend of 
 Jimmy s and as good a district worker as the 
 Twelfth Ward boasted. 
 
 In Casey s bar-room, as Jimmy entered, were five 
 men, and one of these Jimmy recognized as " Buck " 
 Conroy, a slinking-, cadaverous man who swung a 
 vote oi considerable size to which ever side had the 
 biggest pocketbook in an election. Conroy had 
 " sold out " Brady a few days previously, in a minor 
 election. Brady had threatened to visit dire punish 
 ment on Conroy s head for this, though Jimmy had 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 102 
 
 counseled diplomatic methods. Now, Conroy was 
 drinking heavily and talking loudly to two men 
 who stood at the bar with him, one of whom Jimmy 
 identified as a " bruiser " in Brady s train. 
 
 Jimmy walked to the end of the bar behind 
 which Casey, in clean, white jacket and artistically 
 waved and plastered hair was standing, and nodded 
 to him. Casey came over to him, his face shining, 
 and they began a whispered conversation. 
 
 But suddenly Conroy shouted a curse at one of 
 his companions, and the latter called Conroy a liar. 
 Conroy struck at him, the blow was dodged and 
 returned, and, instantly, a fight was on. Casey 
 leaped the bar, bung-starter in hand, Jimmy started 
 forward to aid him. But neither of them was quick 
 enough. 
 
 A man sitting at a table had jumped up at the first 
 sound of dispute, and, with the two men drinking 
 with Conroy, flung himself on the latter. Jimmy was 
 shoved back by another man who also tripped up 
 Casey. From the knot of fighting men came the 
 sound of crashing blows and Conroy s cries for 
 help. Then, the cries ceased, the fight stopped, and 
 the assailants of Conroy rushed out into the street, 
 leaving the bar-room empty except for Jimmy and 
 Casey, and Conroy, lying bloody and unconscious 
 on the floor. Moreover, when the police came in 
 they could learn nothing definite regarding the fight. 
 Jimmy apparently was in the dark; so was Casey. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 103 
 
 What these two knew or suspected they kept to 
 themselves for reasons of their own. 
 
 But the occurrence had cleared Jimmy s mind of 
 all doubts on one point. He felt no hesitation now 
 in carrying out his own plans. After the police had 
 gone from Casey s he walked straight back to Sam 
 Showell s rooms. There he remained until the sky 
 was whitening in the East. Brady never knew that 
 Jimmy had made this midnight call on Showell; 
 but, that the former had some distinct opinions on an 
 earlier happening of that same evening, he learned 
 within a week a week, by the way, in which Jimmy 
 had but few hours of rest and not an idle moment 
 while awake. 
 
 The assault on Conroy made a mild sensation. 
 Conroy himself seemed to have had all recollection 
 of the affair beaten out of his head, and, for several 
 days, was close to death. But the newspapers that 
 were hostile to Brady declared that the assault had 
 been planned by Brady in revenge for Conroy s 
 " independence." They denounced Brady and 
 " Brady s Bullies." 
 
 Brady laughed at the names they called him. He 
 had been the target for many such attacks. He 
 made no effort to disprove the charges they brought 
 against him, though he denied them to the news 
 paper reporters. 
 
 Jimmy took quite another view of the situation. 
 His opinions on political policy had begun to crys- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 104 
 
 tallize some time before. After turning- over the 
 question in his mind for a week he came out boldly 
 one Friday night. 
 
 " Brady," said he; " You ve been at this game a 
 good many more years than me but you re makin 
 a mistake now. Sluggin s played out. Don t you 
 think so?" 
 
 " Oh, shut up ! " retorted Brady. " You make me 
 tired! " It was said good-naturedly; but, somehow, 
 it got on Jimmy s nerves. " No," he answered; 
 " I m not goin t shut up; I 11 have my say out this 
 time. We ve got t come t an understandin ." 
 
 Brady checked a laugh. Jimmy s tone was not to 
 be mistaken. He had had a taste of Jimmy s deter 
 mination on several occasions. " What s the mat 
 ter, anyhow ? " he asked. " If you re sore about 
 that Conroy business you re wastin your time. 
 Why, th thing s happened lots a times b fore this, 
 and it 11 blow over this time as usual. Only Con 
 roy 11 know better than t sell me out again, if he 
 gets th chance." 
 
 " It ain t about Conroy that I m worryin ; it s th 
 whole business." 
 
 ", What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Bulldozin men ! Usin fists, or clubs, or some- 
 trim worse to make men do what you want ! I tell 
 you, that sort of thing is played out. Can t you see 
 it? If you can t, I can. What s more, I m not 
 goin to run my head into a hornet s nest." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 105 
 
 " Well, what re you goin to do about it ? " de 
 manded Brady with sarcastic emphasis. Jimmy s 
 voice had held a threat, and Brady had a temper. 
 
 The taunt made Jimmy s cheeks flush, but he re 
 plied coolly, " I m goin to quit this sluggin game 
 and so are you ! " 
 
 His mandatory tone first surprised, then an 
 gered Brady. " Oh, I am, am I ? " he said. " Well, 
 I guess not. I ain t come this far without knowin 
 what I m goin to do th rest of th way. And you re 
 makin a fool of yourself." 
 
 " Maybe," said Jimmy quietly. " Maybe." There 
 was a little pause. Then, from Jimmy : " But I 
 don t want to go on makin a fool of myself, and I 
 don t want you to, neither." 
 
 "Who says I m makin a fool of myself?" de 
 manded Brady. 
 
 " I do ! " returned Jimmy, looking him squarely in 
 the eyes. 
 
 " You lie ! " sprang from Brady s lips, and he rose 
 from his chair. 
 
 Jimmy s mouth tightened and there was a flash 
 from his eyes. Then, he replied in a level voice, 
 " We 11 let that pass for th present. You are makin 
 a fool of yourself, and, in five years, you 11 know it. 
 You can t club people into doin your way always, 
 and, th first thing, you ll slip up, there 11 be a row, 
 and somebody 11 go to jail. Even if that don t 
 happen you 11 lose your grip, if you keep on doin 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 106 
 
 what you ve been doin . Th fellow that licks in th 
 prize ring ain t th one with th biggest fists, but th 
 one that knows how to use em best. Someone 11 
 come along and teach you that soon, if you don t 
 take warnin , and look ahead." 
 
 " I d like to see em try it," said Brady boastfully, 
 though a little weakened by Jimmy s home truths. 
 Then he remembered that Jimmy had touched on 
 this subject before and always had dropped it when 
 he (Brady) grew impatient. " Say, I ve heard all 
 that," he remarked. " And I know what I m about, 
 sonny. You can t make me think different ; so you d 
 better save your time and tongue." He meant this 
 to be conciliatory, for he liked Jimmy and had a 
 good deal of respect for most of his opinions ; but he 
 also made it plain that he was not going to yield. 
 
 Jimmy had been studying Brady s face closely; 
 he seemed loath to speak what was in his mind. But, 
 presently, he got to his feet. " All right, Brady," 
 he said, and his voice held more of sorrow than re 
 proach. " I suppose you know what you re doin . 
 I m sure I know what I m goin to do. I don t think 
 your way, and so I m goin to get out ! " 
 
 " Get out? What do you mean? " said Brady. 
 
 "I m goin to get out leave you ! " 
 
 "Goin to leave me? Get out of politics?" 
 Brady s amazement was overwhelming. 
 
 " I m goin to leave you; but I m not goin out of 
 politics," returned Jimmy. " Not much, I ain t 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 107 
 
 goin out of politics. You and I can t travel to 
 gether any longer, that s all." 
 
 Brady was scornful at such presumption. He 
 threw back his head and laughed. " Why! why! 
 you re nuthin but a kid!" he cried. "And you 
 talk of goin it alone ! " 
 
 " That s what I mean to do," returned Jimmy 
 firmly. 
 
 Suddenly Brady s surprise flamed into renewed 
 anger. " Get out, then ! " he shouted. " Get out, 
 and to hell with you ! " 
 
 " No, just round th corner," corrected Jimmy. 
 There was a thin smile on his lips. " What s th use 
 of havin hard words between us ? " he went on, after 
 an instant. " You ve done a lot for me, and I won t 
 forget it." He held out his hand. 
 
 Brady in the blaze of his anger, struck at it. 
 Jimmy stepped back. " But I will forget that," he 
 said, " for you don t mean it." He walked to the 
 door, said " Good night," and went out. 
 
 The thing had come upon Brady so unexpectedly 
 and was over so quickly that it left him stunned. 
 
 But Jimmy wasn t stunned. From Brady he went 
 straightway to Showell, his fingers tingling, some 
 strange feeling making him want to shout and tell 
 everyone that he no longer had a boss. He was 
 ashamed of the feeling, but it would not be ban- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 108 
 
 ished. So, when he had climbed the steps to Show- 
 ell s room, he flung open the door and walked in, his 
 face beaming. 
 
 The gas was flaring, the room filled with tobacco 
 smoke. In one chair lounged Showell with broad, 
 good-humored face, his coat off, collar wilted, legs 
 on a table. 
 
 Opposite to him sat a tall, slender man, a few 
 years older than Jimmy, with keen gray eyes, aqui 
 line nose, and a hard mouth. There was a nicety in 
 his dress and bearing which Jimmy knew was culti 
 vated quite as much for their effect on others as to 
 satisfy his own tastes. For Ed Walsh, leader of the 
 Twenty-first " a ward of " gentlemen " voters 
 was conceded to be the shrewdest of the younger 
 ward politicians too shrewd to keep company with 
 the reformers among whom he had learned the pri 
 mary lessons in politics. He was spoken of as a 
 coming man among the " regulars." To-night 
 Walsh was in Showell s room, by appointment, to 
 meet Jimmy. These two Walsh and Jimmy had 
 matched wits more than once ; they had a wholesome 
 respect for each other. Jimmy had hinted of his 
 intentions to Walsh ; Walsh had seen fit to nod his 
 head. To-night he was to tell Jimmy how far the 
 latter might rely upon him when he broke with 
 Brady. For neither Showell nor Walsh knew that 
 the split already had taken place. 
 
 But Jimmy left them not long in ignorance. He 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 109 
 
 sat down, and, calmed by Walsh s cold eyes, related 
 what had passed between Brady and himself. " And 
 I left him sittin there, lookin as if th ceilin had 
 dropped in on him," he finished, and came to a full 
 stop. 
 
 " And now ? " said Walsh interrogatively, after a 
 little wait. 
 
 Jimmy s eyes inquired of Showell how far Walsh 
 already had committed himself, and got an answer. 
 " And now," he replied : " I m waitin to hear what 
 you re goin to do." 
 
 " Me," rejoined Walsh. " I ve got to hear your 
 plans first." 
 
 " I ve told you I mean to strike out for myself." 
 
 " Yes, but that isn t it. How are you going about 
 it ? What are you after ? " 
 
 " Oh, you want to know all that," remarked 
 Jimmy, and his lips twitched. Then he went on, 
 " Walsh, you remind me of a story I heard th other 
 day. There was an old darkey got religion th worst 
 kind, and he went to his parson, and told him he was 
 sufferin from a sin he come mighty near committin 
 th night before. Brudder Smiles he has a pow ful 
 fine melon patch nigh out a mile from my place, he 
 said. An las night, when I wuz comin by, de 
 moonlight wuz shinin on dem melons, an dey jus 
 look like dey bust, dey wuz dat big an juicy. By an 
 by, I felt my foots a gettin heavier, an t done jus 
 pear t me I d hab t sit down ont Brudder Smiles 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS no 
 
 fence. When I sot down one big melon wuz that 
 clost t me I could a reached down an a picked it up 
 widout a ha f tryin . But I didn t! I didn t Pa son. 
 I didn t, case I jus c uldn t. Fur I seed Brudder 
 Smiles a snakin long by de aidge a de woods, an 
 he had a gun; an som thin b gin t say t me " Jim 
 Peasy ! yo Jim Peasy ! Yo done know dem melons 
 don t b long t yo . Get off a dat fence, quick s yo 
 kin, an skin home! " An dat s what I done, Pa son. 
 
 " Yo done puffectly right. Dat wuz yo con 
 science done tol j yo dat, said the Parson. But 
 dey s one thing yo ain t done tol me is yo gwine 
 t stay way f rum dem melons hyaraf ter ? 
 
 " Dat s jus de trouble, Pa son, answered th 
 old darkey. I s fraid mebbe I can t. De tem ta- 
 tion s pow ful strong, an I come by dat melon patch 
 mos ebery night. 
 
 " An is is Brudder Smiles always a snakin 
 round de aidge a de woods wid dat gun ? asked 
 th Parson. 
 
 " I spect he am, replied th old darkey. I 
 spect he am, Pa son. 
 
 " The Parson thought a minute after that. Then 
 he said, Look hyar, Brudder Peasy ! De tem ta- 
 tion a dem melons wuz suttinly de wuk a de Debbil, 
 an yo done jus right t come an tell me. But yo 
 ain t free frum de sin yet. Yo got t make a riccom- 
 pense. I tell yo what yo do. Yo ask Brudder 
 Smiles ober t yo house t night, and treat him like he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS in 
 
 done mak yo a prisint a all dem melons ; an t mor- 
 row yo come an tell me how yo feel. 
 
 " So th old darkey did what his Parson said, and 
 th next day he came to th Parson, and th Parson 
 asked him how he felt. 
 
 " I done feel all right, he answered. I done 
 do what yo tol me bout Brudder Smiles, an t sut- 
 tinly druv out de Debbil. But t done druv out some- 
 thin else, too ; fur I come by Brudder Smiles place 
 dis mawnin , an Pa son, t am de Gospel truf! 
 ebery one a dem melons wuz gone gone while 
 Brudder Smiles wuz at my house las night. 
 
 " Th Parson shut his eyes and raised his hands. 
 1 Sing praises fur dat, Brudder Peasy ! he cried. 
 Sing praises t heben ! Mysterious am de ways a 
 de Great Ruler! Yo done come an tol me ebery- 
 ting, an de Lawd de Lawd he take his own way a 
 r movin de tem tation ! 
 
 Showell shouted, and slapped his thigh. It was 
 a new story to him. 
 
 Jimmy was looking straight into Walsh s face. 
 " Brother Peasy ain t in my line, even if th Parson 
 is in yours," he said quietly. 
 
 Walsh smiled. " All right," he said. " I under 
 stand. We ll call it square. I m ready with my an 
 swer; I wouldn t be here to-night if I wasn t. I ll 
 join Showell, and back you up." 
 
 " Is that honest? " said Jimmy. His glance bored 
 Walsh through. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 112 
 
 " It is," replied Walsh, and Jimmy took his hand. 
 " And now Brother Peasy, perhaps, you ll speak 
 out," Walsh added. 
 
 Showell, beginning to understand that he had 
 heard a parable, laughed harder than ever. He ral 
 lied Walsh on his rebuff. Jimmy, as soon as there 
 was opportunity, began to tell such of his plans as 
 he was ready to tell; and, as these were unfolded, 
 Walsh s admiration of him grew. 
 
 When Jimmy left Walsh and Showell that night 
 he had their promised cooperation in his campaign. 
 Their support was to be a secret at first; when he 
 had got a foothold they were to declare themselves. 
 
 It was all around ward political circles within a 
 day or so Jimmy had left the " Old Man." It was 
 significant of the way in which Jimmy already was 
 taken that no one accepted the version which Brady 
 gave of the parting. " I fired him because he wuz 
 gettin too lippy," he declared. 
 
 Jimmy s explanation was comprehensive. " We 
 couldn t get along together, so we shook each other," 
 he stated. Beyond this he would say nothing. But, 
 straightway, he went to work to prove that he was 
 right and Brady wrong in the issue. 
 
 Jimmy knew what he was about, and on whom he 
 could depend. In the week previous he had seen a 
 score or more of the most important of the malcon- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 113 
 
 tents among Brady s following; and, on the day af 
 ter he left Brady, he called these men and a few 
 others together. 
 
 " Everybody here thinks he knows more than 
 Brady does," he began, addressing them. " That s 
 one of th reasons you came to this meetin . Th 
 question is : Are you able to show him that you 
 know better, if you get th chance?" He stopped; 
 and muttered affirmatives and jeers at Brady came 
 from the room. 
 
 Jimmy s eyes lighted. " Yes," he said ; " you can 
 talk big here; but how about makin good your 
 words? That s another thing. And, yet, I think 
 you can do it. But you ve got to take your medicine 
 first. For it won t be easy sailin . He ll lick us at th 
 polls like th devil for a while there s no gettin 
 away from that. He s got it in for us. What we 
 want to do is to keep pluggin away, and not lose a 
 trick. We ll stand in with him at first when he gives 
 us what we want, and when he doesn t, we ll help 
 th other side, and make him wish we hadn t. But 
 we ve got to stick together or he ll make us look like 
 a lot of reformers after an election. And to stick 
 together we ve got to have some one to stick to. 
 Now, how do you think I d do for that job? " 
 
 He paused and looked round. There was a gen 
 eral laugh. "Like beeswax!" called one; and 
 Jimmy bowed. 
 
 " All right," he resumed. " I see you re goin to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 114 
 
 try and force th thing on me. So, just to show you 
 how easy I am sometimes I m goin to accept it." 
 
 There he halted as if to draw on all of his forces. 
 The smile disappeared from his countenance, and he 
 took one short step forward as he added in a low, 
 strong voice : " But don t you fool yourself that I 
 don t know what my business is ! If anybody does 
 that and tries to get th best of me, he ll find he s run 
 up against something that ll hurt him. There ain t 
 goin to be but one boss at th head of this crowd 
 as long as I stay in it. You want to remember that ! 
 When somebody thinks he ought to help run things 
 somebody 11 get fired and it won t be me. I m 
 boss from start to finish ! " 
 
 Jimmy was standing at his full height, his head 
 a little thrust forward so that some of those who 
 looked on wondered how it was that they had never 
 noticed before what an ugly, determined mouth and 
 chin he had. But his address struck home; uncon 
 sciously they acknowledged him as their master. And 
 Jimmy knew that they did. Jimmy had an abound 
 ing confidence in himself always. 
 
 But there were disheartening times in store for 
 those who followed him. Only his stubborn will 
 and cheering words carried his men with him during 
 the next year. Brady chuckled to himself, when, 
 at the first of the elections ensuing, Jimmy s faction 
 got practically no recognition. In the next fight they 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 115 
 
 were fairly smothered and Brady ha.d great sport 
 with those who had warned him to be careful. But 
 Brady on this account was little the less troubled se 
 cretly by the fact that, in the face of defeat and, 
 again when overthrown, Jimmy s people stuck by 
 him, and Jimmy remained resolute and energetic. In 
 deed, Jimmy made no complaint to anyone. He wore 
 a grim smile when chaffed and his courage was un 
 flagging. He fairly lifted his men from spells of 
 despondency by his buoyancy and abiding faith. 
 
 The first important municipal election showed, 
 too, that he had won his foothold. Brady got the 
 votes he needed to carry his men through, but for 
 these votes Jimmy got his price. He controlled the 
 votes, and Brady had to negotiate for their transfer 
 ence. The price he paid was a place on the school 
 board of the Ward, and Jimmy took the place. 
 There was no salary attached to the office; but there 
 were perquisites, especially in the matter of influence 
 among those who had the wish to fill municipal con 
 tracts. Nor was any one better aware of this than 
 was Brady. 
 
 The following year Jimmy s faction was able to 
 make a still stronger bid for recognition at the polls, 
 and got it. That autumn they threatened Brady with 
 the loss of a councilman, and the threats were effect 
 ive. Early in the following summer Jimmy ad 
 ministered his master stroke. It was a small thing 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 116 
 
 in itself; it was big in results. Brady gave him the 
 opening, or rather Jimmy took advantage of Brady s 
 neglect. 
 
 One morning Jimmy read in the newspapers that 
 United States Senator Corson was in town. He sat 
 for an hour, thinking, then he took up an almanac, 
 and began a careful study of the ballots cast by the 
 Legislature of his state in recent elections for a 
 United States Senator. The forenoon he filled in by 
 reading the editorial comment on a certain phase of 
 politics and the news despatches from various points 
 of the State, but particularly those from the State 
 Capital. During the afternoon he was unusually 
 busy among the men in his ward. At six o clock 
 that evening these men met him, and an hour s de 
 bate ensued. At eight o clock Jimmy, attired in his 
 best clothes, sent up his card in a sealed envelope to 
 Senator Corson s room in one of the hotels. On the 
 card he had pencilled, " In regard to the next election 
 for a United States Senator in this State. From the 
 Tenth District." 
 
 In five minutes came a message that the Senator 
 would see him in a short time. Half an hour later 
 he was asked to come up. He entered the Sena 
 tor s room with a trepidation to which his face and 
 manner gave the lie direct. He ran a glance around 
 the room as he stepped in, and was relieved to find 
 the Senator alone. It was not the first time that 
 he had seen the Senator, but it was the first time 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 117 
 
 he had met him. The latter stood by a table, Jimmy s 
 card in his hand. 
 
 Senator Corson was of middle height and sparely 
 built. He dressed carelessly and held himself rather 
 awkwardly. His head seemed to be set close to his 
 shoulders, his thick hair, parted on one side, un 
 covered a high forehead. The skin beginning to 
 bag under his eyes, the deep lines on either side of 
 his nose gave an appearance of premature age to his 
 countenance. But his eyes when they could be seen 
 fairly belied the first impression of sleepiness. They 
 were large and prominent; a cast in one of them 
 lent a sinister aspect to the face which a stubby 
 mustache, drooping at the corners, accentuated. He 
 seemed to be perpetually sneering under cover. He 
 raised his eyelids with effort as he lifted his head and 
 said in a piping voice, " Mr. Devlin, what can I do 
 for you ? " 
 
 " You can let me turn in th Tenth Legislative 
 District for you." 
 
 The Senator s eyelids dropped. " I m sorry," he 
 said; " but I must ask you to tell me who you are." 
 
 "J. Devlin of th Twelfth Ward. I am Bill 
 Brady s opponent there. I left him more n a year 
 ago. I can carry th District for a Representative to 
 the Legislature that will stand by you in th next 
 Senatorial election." 
 
 " How do you know you can? " 
 
 " Th District is going to be badly split on th 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 118 
 
 election of a Representative to the Legislature. I ve 
 got just enough men to throw it your way." 
 
 " That District has always gone against me. It 
 has been hard and fast for Barnes s man. I see no 
 chance of a change." 
 
 " I can prove to you that there s a good chance 
 this time," returned Jimmy. " If you ll let me, I ll 
 show you right now." 
 
 The Senator drew up a chair; he was taking 
 Jimmy s measure unobserved, as he thought. They 
 sat down. Then Jimmy began to reel off facts and 
 figures. He had the thing down pat; he told the 
 Senator some things of which the latter was not 
 aware, though no one would have suspected that. 
 The Senator leaned back in his chair, presently, and 
 put his finger-tips together. " Now, what makes 
 you think I need you? " he asked sharply. 
 
 Jimmy looked the other in the face, unwinking. 
 " Because," he said boldly; " you ll need every vote 
 you can get to go back to Washington next term." 
 
 The Senator s mustache lifted at one corner. He 
 was silent for a little while. Then he remarked drily, 
 " You ve got plenty of assurance to say that to my 
 face." 
 
 " It is th truth. Your last election was won by 
 two votes th election before that by four th elec 
 tion before that by six. This time it ought to be by 
 th same count lost for th lack of a vote." 
 
 " Politics are not mathematics." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 119 
 
 " Aren t they more uncertain ? Besides well, you 
 know th opposition to you this time. Is it any 
 weaker than it was? " 
 
 This time the Senator s mustache did not twitch, 
 his eyes were hidden. He sat unresponsive; to all 
 appearances, unmoved. But abruptly he asked, 
 " What would the Representative from the Tenth 
 District want ? " 
 
 " I want your influence and good word in my 
 fight." 
 
 "In the Twelfth Ward?" 
 
 " In th Twelfth Ward just now ; later wherever 
 else I may be fightin as long as I m wanted by 
 you." 
 
 "Brady ," began the Senator, and paused. 
 
 " Is already pledged for Barnes to th City ad 
 ministration against you." Jimmy understood that 
 he stated a fact well known to the other, but that 
 did not invalidate it. 
 
 " You believe that you can defeat Brady on this 
 issue?" 
 
 " I know I can." 
 
 The Senator got up and walked the length of the 
 room. He jammed his hands into his trouser pockets. 
 He stared out of the window at the twinkling 
 lights of the houses. He walked back to his old 
 position. At the table he came to a sudden halt. 
 " I ll think it over," he said. " I ll let you know in a 
 week." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 120 
 
 " There s no time to be lost," returned Jimmy. 
 He rose and picked up his hat. " As for Brady," he 
 continued ; " he stands ready to recognize me in this 
 fight if I ll do as he thinks I m going to do. But 
 Barnes well, I d rather not vote for Barnes. I ll 
 give him my answer, though, one way or th other a 
 week from to-day." 
 
 " Good night," said the Senator coldly. But his 
 eyelids lifted a trifle and a flash of light seemed to 
 spring from beneath them. 
 
 " Good night," Jimmy replied, and he walked out 
 of the room. 
 
 Corson went back to Washington at the ensuing 
 election for a United States Senator. But it was 
 what has been called " a verra close shave." And, 
 incidentally, it is to be noted that the name of the 
 Representative to the State Legislature from the 
 Tenth District did not appear in the Barnes column 
 in that election. Brady raged thereat; Jimmy pre 
 served a discreet silence. 
 
 But that winter, when they spoke of the Twelfth 
 Ward it was : " What do Brady and Jimmy say? " 
 Moreover, what Jimmy said Brady often agreed to ; 
 not because it was to his liking, but because he had 
 more at stake, at this time, than had Jimmy, and be 
 cause Jimmy held the balance of pow r er in the Ward 
 between Brady and the minority party. 
 
 Marcus Doran had heard with delight of the sepa 
 ration of Jimmy and Brady. To him it was the be- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 121 
 
 ginning of the end of Jimmy s career. He credited 
 Jimmy with shrewdness and determination; but 
 Brady s power was too well established, he believed, 
 to be impaired by anything that Jimmy might do. 
 He took pains to let Kate know of Jimmy s separa 
 tion from Brady as soon as he heard of it. 
 
 " He s overreached himself this time ! " he de 
 clared. " Brady 11 smash him, and I m glad of it. 
 He s gettin too big-headed." 
 
 Kate did not know a great deal of politics, but she 
 did know Jimmy. She smiled and made no reply. 
 A few days later she saw Jimmy. 
 
 " Jimmy, Jimmy," she said. " Why didn t you 
 tell me you were in such a bad way? " 
 
 "Bad way?" answered Jimmy. " Who said I 
 was in a bad way? " 
 
 " Why, -haven t you broken off from Mr. 
 Brady ? " asked Kate in mock surprise. 
 
 " Yes, but " began Jimmy, a little scornful. 
 Then he read the truth on her twitching lips, and was 
 nettled for a moment. Kate always was making a 
 fool of him. "It is hard luck," he began again. 
 " But, I guess, I ll pull through. Maybe, Brady 11 
 forgive me, and lend me a helpin hand when he 
 sees how miserable I am." 
 
 " Maybe he will," agreed Kate in the same 
 strain. 
 
 But Jimmy, looking into her face, detected beneath 
 this banter a firm faith in him and his plans. It was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 122 
 
 as a clear light to him. It dissolved his own mask 
 of playful uncertainty. All at once, his eyes flashed. 
 He threw back his head. 
 
 " Kate/ he said. " Brady, or no one like him 
 shall stop me! My place is up on top! That s 
 where I m going ! " 
 
BOOK 
 TWO- 
 
CHAPTER VI 125 
 
 ON one of the down town streets in Jimmy s 
 city, crowded between a tobacco store and 
 a row of offices of second-rate lawyers, 
 stood a two-story brick building with dingy front, 
 dusty window panes and deeply worn steps. A 
 narrow hallway gave entrance to the two rooms on 
 the ground floor. 
 
 The first door opened into a bare apartment of 
 moderate size, furnished with a couple O f benches, 
 a few chairs, a multitude of spittoons, and many po 
 litical posters on the walls. This was Jimmy s wait 
 ing room. It communicated, at the back, with a 
 smaller room, overlooking a brick-paved court, and 
 supplied with a flat-topped desk, half a dozen 
 straight-backed chairs, a safe in one corner, and a 
 clinging atmosphere of stale tobacco smoke. This 
 was Jimmy s office. " Back " it was called by the 
 fraternity to whom it was most familiar. 
 
 " Back " was the place of business more or less 
 directly affecting the welfare of a half million people. 
 
 It was now fifteen years since Jimmy made that 
 onward and upward boast to Kate ; and Jimmy stood 
 as flesh and blood proof of its undertaking and con- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 126 
 
 tinned achievement. To-day, he was one of three 
 men who shaped the course of the dominant political 
 party of the city. To-morrow, it was whispered, the 
 other two of these men must bow to Jimmy, or be 
 broken. Yet, for all these whispers of the wise, the 
 " Three Czars," as they were called, worked shoulder 
 to shoulder, and, when the name of Jimmy was in the 
 air, the names of Sam Showell and Ed Walsh were 
 on the tongue. The triumvirate was supreme. 
 Showell bribed or bullied the voters who had small 
 brains and big fists; Walsh cajoled or convinced 
 those whose hands were soft and who lived in fine 
 houses ; Jimmy steered a middle course, and made the 
 control of the primary elections of the party his per 
 sonal effort. This he did largely through the medium 
 of the Water Trust, which, now a thing of the past, 
 was once a monument of all that high-minded citi 
 zens execrated. 
 
 The Water Trust was, nominally, a body of ten 
 men whose duty it was to manage the Water Works 
 of the city. But, by easy stages, it had become the 
 Board of Management of an " Asylum for the In 
 curably Idle " among those with a political " pull." 
 When Jimmy awoke to the possibilities of this es 
 tablishment he had himself elected a Water Trustee 
 by City Councils, and, in time converted the clerical 
 and artisan forces of the W T ater Works into a 
 " Bureau for the Propagation of the Political Views 
 of J. Devlin." Through the fifteen hundred em- 
 
J, DEVLIN BOSS 127 
 
 ployes his will was worked at the party polls. The 
 threads by which these marionettes were made to 
 move converged from all points of the compass to a 
 common center. " Back," where Jimmy was now 
 sitting, the ends of the threads came together under 
 Jimmy s hand. 
 
 It was a plump hand that rested on them a hand 
 that lacked distinction until it was in action. Then, 
 its fingers opened or closed with a quickness and 
 force that made the marionettes dance. A stranger s 
 first comment on seeing Jimmy was, " Built for 
 work " ; a prompt addition to this opinion : " And 
 to make others work." 
 
 There was decision in Jimmy s every movement; 
 persuasion or command in every tone of his voice or 
 expression of his face. No taller than he was at 
 nineteen and plain of feature, the years had been his 
 confederates. His face was the obedient servant 
 it had always been. The little darts at the corners of 
 his bright blue eyes, the lines that played about his 
 flexible mouth one moment would be drawn in an 
 expression of serious reflection; the next, perhaps, 
 vanish in the vacancy of innocence or wonderment, 
 and, the next, twitch with the appeal of some 
 passing thought. The dash of gray at his temples, 
 the stouter body and the chin which now boldly pro 
 claimed itself would have misled no one who had 
 known the Jimmy of years gone-by. Even the sober 
 gray suit, the " choker " collar, black bow tie and ex- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 128 
 
 panse of spotless shirt front, which Jimmy wore as 
 if they were the parts of a uniform, would only have 
 convinced such an acquaintance that Jimmy was as 
 careful of his personal appearance as ever. 
 
 Of very different make and dress was the man 
 who sat opposite Jimmy in this little back room. 
 Tall, big and good looking, with dark hair, swarthy 
 complexion and a selfish mouth, Marcus Doran, at 
 forty years of age advertised in feature and figure 
 the qualities which one had been left to guess at 
 when he was twenty. His clothes sat well on his 
 large frame, but made their color and pattern felt at 
 long range. 
 
 Now, tilted back in his chair, one leg thrown over 
 the other, his fingers in the armholes of his vest, he 
 talked to Jimmy in a voice that was meant to be 
 confidential. 
 
 :< You see, it s this way," he said. " If I get that 
 contract I m dead certain to fall in for a lot more of 
 th same sort of business. It 11 be a cinch, if I get 
 it ; and I know you can give it to me." 
 
 " I can, but I won t," replied Jimmy decisively. 
 " I ve told you why." 
 
 " Oh, come ! " Marcus s face assumed an expres 
 sion of understanding. " I know how that is. But, 
 well, Walsh s man can do with another contract; 
 and this one is yours to give. Come! let me have 
 it. Won t you, this time? " 
 
 Jimmy was unrelenting. " This time?" he re- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 129 
 
 peated. " Why, you ve said those same words to me 
 till I m tired of hearin em. They don t mean any 
 thing." 
 
 Marcus looked hurt. " This time they do/ he 
 remonstrated. 
 
 " No, not this time, either," returned Jimmy. " It s 
 always th same thing. It s Jimmy this and Jimmy 
 that, and never lift a finger for yourself. For ten 
 years or more you ve come to me for everything 
 you wanted. You ve been given good contracts in 
 plenty and lots of other things besides. You ve made 
 money. But where does th money go ? How does 
 Mrs. Doran live and keep that boy of hers in clothes ? 
 God knows ! What you don t drink up, you blow in 
 on speculation. What you don t lose that way, I ll 
 bet, goes in gambling." 
 
 Suddenly, Jimmy brought his fist down on the 
 table with a bang. " And it stops right here, as far 
 as I go ! " he finished. " You re not a foot ahead of 
 where you were when we were boys." He glared at 
 Marcus with honest wrath. It was a long speech 
 for Jimmy, and, what was still more rare, it was a 
 moral lecture. 
 
 Marcus looked all the surprise and disappointment 
 that he felt. A nasty gleam flashed into his face and 
 was gone. He leaned forward with an appearance 
 of impulse that was well done. " That s just it," 
 he said. " It s because of Kate that I specially want 
 that contract. I m ashamed of her of th way she 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 130 
 
 has to go round. Whatever I ve done, I mean to do 
 better now. Give me this contract, and see if I 
 don t?" 
 
 Jimmy s lips were pressed together yet something 
 jerked at their corners. " I ve given you my an 
 swer," he said shortly. " That s all." He hitched 
 himself forward in his chair, and picked up a letter. 
 
 Marcus sat motionless. The fact that Jimmy had 
 refused him point-blank and had no intention of talk 
 ing more was slowly sinking into his mind. It was 
 hard to believe this after a dozen years of almost 
 continuous assistance. Moreover, he had counted 
 confidently on that allusion to Kate s distress 
 to soften unlocked for harshness. But Jimmy was 
 deep in his letter. The interview was at an end. 
 Marcus was angry enough to have said anything, but 
 didn t know what to say. He got up slowly and took 
 his hat. He walked to the doorway and halted. 
 But the other never looked up from his letter; with a 
 muttered imprecation, Marcus flung open the door, 
 and passed into the waiting room. 
 
 As he passed across the room the nearest of a 
 long row of seated men got up and went into 
 the back room and closed the door. Then Jimmy 
 raised his eyes and laid down his letter. 
 
 " How do, Mr. Marshall," he said warmly. 
 " You ve come to see about that loan ? Well, I guess 
 I can accommodate you. Sit down." 
 
 Marshall, a tall, brown-bearded man with deeply 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 131 
 
 furrowed forehead, sat down. He was a merchant 
 in more than a small way, and Jimmy s greeting 
 made his heart rejoice. To him this loan meant 
 salvation from threatened bankruptcy. 
 
 To Jimmy it meant a profitable investment. The 
 aptitude for the management of finances which he 
 had shown in the days of the " News " office had not 
 been a talent wasted. 
 
 In a score of years he had accumulated, partly by 
 the process of assimilation, a considerable fortune; 
 and to this he was steadily adding. There are many 
 ways of knowing where a profit may be reaped 
 when one can forecast the employment of the city s 
 millions; there is a legitimate profit in having con 
 nections with such industrial concerns as a municipal 
 economy utilizes; last, but not least, there are al 
 ways men whose gratitude for services rendered in 
 the field of politics takes the form of " inside in 
 formation " on the stock market s eccentricities, or, 
 perhaps, is represented by stock certificates them 
 selves. Though some may cavil at such transactions, 
 it is difficult to find the law book in which they are 
 specially forbidden, still more difficult to secure the 
 lawyer who can prove them illegal to the satisfac 
 tion of an impartial court 
 
 So Jimmy, though he was less widely known 
 as a man of money than as a man of votes, had 
 money and had it all invested, too, where it would do 
 the most good to J. Devlin. He was President of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 132 
 
 the Union Bank, an institution he had taken in 
 hand when it was on the brink of ruin, and made 
 solvent and trusted by hard work and honest busi 
 ness methods. It was the sufficient argument of 
 those who recommended the Bank : " Jimmy stands 
 behind it." It was the same affidavit of worth which 
 enlisted cooperation in the real estate schemes which 
 he started and heavily invested in. But, besides 
 this, he always had funds which he might draw upon 
 for incidental use; and these funds made him many 
 staunch friends among those whom they had carried 
 through crises that otherwise would have given the 
 newspapers a sensation. In politics one never knows 
 positively upon whom one may have to lean next, 
 and Jimmy was nearly always able to provide against 
 such contingencies so far as money was concerned. 
 
 Yet, sometimes in that little back room, 
 money was handled in what seemed to be reckless 
 fashion. Things were done there without parade or 
 waste of words. It is an axiom in politics : " Never 
 write what you can speak ; never speak what you can 
 nod." But that, perhaps, made what did take place 
 all the more remarkable. 
 
 Once in this little back room a railroad company 
 convinced Jimmy that " Silence is golden," and so 
 saw the bill, giving it the right to lay tracks at grade 
 within the city, passed by City Councils. Once the 
 Acme Electric Light Company persuaded Jimmy 
 that the city ought to open certain streets along 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 133 
 
 which it might string wires; and, merely to assure 
 him of its financial soundness, left $10,000 of its 
 stock on his desk. Once a council of the Powers 
 there decided to raise the tax valuation of specified 
 properties and so convince the owners of mistakes 
 made at the polls. And once But there is no need 
 to multiply instances of the magnitude and diversity 
 of the cases which Jimmy settled in " Back." 
 
 His was a place of final appeal as well as of first. 
 His was a bench of strict impartiality, aside from 
 the interests which its occupant represented. All 
 grades and kinds of men, consciously or otherwise, 
 came within the scope of his judgments at one time 
 or another, and felt their weight. Above the doors 
 of the Water Works a satirist had said there should 
 be written : 
 
 " Abandon want all ye who enter here ! " 
 
 Above the portal of the little room in which 
 Jimmy administered justice might have been written 
 with equal force so some contended : 
 
 " Here the wicked bring their plottings, 
 And Jimmy does the rest." 
 
 Could it have been awe, then, which caused that 
 august personage, Judge Hallo well, to come to a halt 
 in his walk down town, as he saw Jimmy approach 
 ing him? Could it have been awe that made him 
 turn, and retrace his steps in Jimmy s company? If 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 134 
 
 awe it was, it soon yielded to the geniality of 
 Jimmy s presence. Half a block passed over, and the 
 two were deep in conversation. On the first corner 
 they stopped. One of the Judge s arms was hooked 
 in Jimmy s and Jimmy was telling a story. The 
 Judge, portly, ponderous and gray headed, a pros 
 pective candidate for the Supreme bench, was shak 
 ing with laughter. 
 
 " It was this way," Jimmy was saying. " Th J old 
 lady was as bald as an egg, and her wig th dog 
 he " The narrative came to a sudden end. Jimmy s 
 eyes were on the other side of the street. 
 
 " Excuse me, Judge; I ll tell you th rest another 
 time," he said hurriedly. With that he darted across 
 the car tracks, and laid a detaining hand on a man 
 there. He drew him to the curb line. 
 
 Shock-headed, his broad face streaked with dirt 
 and perspiration, his coat on one bare arm, a red 
 undershirt showing at the neck, " Sandy " McLain, 
 one of the Water Works " gang," grasped Jimmy s 
 outstretched hand in a hairy paw, and grinned. 
 
 "Didn t know y seed me. Th Judge!" he 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " How s Mrs. McLain ? " asked Jimmy,, 
 
 " Sound as a dollar. She got home yest day. 
 Thet week at th sea-shore you gave her " 
 
 Jimmy reddened. He pulled his hand away 
 roughly. " Hold on ! That s enough ! " he declared. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 135 
 
 " I got to go." He clapped the other on the shoul 
 der, wheeled about, and was gone. 
 
 Sandy McLain looked after him, shaking his head. 
 " Twas th same way he acted bout them turkeys 
 an cranberries Christmas," he muttered. " He s 
 he s ! I ! Damn f I wouldn t jus do any 
 thing fur him ! " he finished, hitching up his coat, 
 and moving on. 
 
 There were a good many others who would have 
 echoed this sentiment. Ridiculous stories got afloat 
 as to the source of certain mysterious gifts which 
 came to lowly homes about the time they were most 
 needed. One day a newspaper reporter charged 
 Jimmy with doing good deeds under cover, and the 
 latter was tempted for an instant to wear borrowed 
 plumage. Then his hard heart got the best of him, 
 and his selfishness spoke in his reply, " Do you take 
 me for a fool to go slinging my money around that 
 way? I don t work no charity mill!" Which re 
 ply, being duly reported, brought upon his 
 head rebukes from those righteous souls who sit in 
 high places. When Jimmy heard of these rebukes 
 he said nothing, but his mouth gave a wry little 
 twist. 
 
 Something of that same curious twist was on 
 his lips one evening, two days after his interview 
 with Marcus, as he stood on the street steps of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Marcus Doran s house, and regarded the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 136 
 
 building. For five months he had not been in it. 
 Marcus s attitude toward him, his own regard for 
 Kate had made him resist his impulses. But the 
 house front now told him the story of those five 
 months and of many more months. Grown dingier 
 as Marcus spent more of his fortuitous earnings on 
 personal pleasures, it seemed to explain : " No 
 money for rent; no repairs by the landlord. Very 
 glad I ll be when, in two weeks, my tenants are 
 bundled out." 
 
 To Jimmy it may have whispered other secrets. 
 At any rate, the twist was gone from his lips, and a 
 rare smile had blossomed on his face when he heard 
 a step inside, and, a moment later, Kate stood in the 
 doorway. 
 
 Tall, slender, graceful, the spirit in her fine gray 
 eyes tempered by something that matched the wistful 
 droop of her mouth, a white thread here and there to 
 be spied in her brown hair drawn softly back from 
 her broad brow, she yet seemed to Jimmy to be as 
 he always remembered her. She stood an instant 
 peering into the illy-lighted street before she saw 
 who it was. 
 
 Then she started, her eyes grew big and a sob 
 came up into her throat. Afterward, she realized 
 that she should be ashamed of these weaknesses; 
 but they were none the less real at the moment, and 
 she was glad just then that she had a hand on the 
 open door. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 137 
 
 Jimmy had a foot on the threshold, his head was 
 cocked to one side. " Hello ! Kate," he said. 
 
 To her it seemed for an instant that he held a 
 bundle of newspapers under his arm and she the 
 same, and that they had come upon each other at a 
 street corner. Her greeting popped out almost be 
 fore she knew what she was saying. " Why, hello, 
 Jimmy ! " she answered. 
 
 He laughed. " Aren t you goin 5 to invite me in ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 By way of reply she stepped aside, and he entered. 
 " Well," he remarked, as he followed her into the 
 parlor ; " this is bully ! I ve been turrible busy lately 
 and been out of town a lot." 
 
 She knew that he was trying to explain why he 
 had not been to see her for so long a time, and im 
 mediately she forgot whatever doubts and disap 
 pointments she had had. 
 
 " Not goin to do nuthin just now, are you? " he 
 queried, as he settled himself in a chair and laid his 
 hat on the floor. 
 
 She was lighting the gas, and said, over her shoul 
 der, " No, I guess I can spare you a little while." 
 
 " Is Jack about? " he inquired. 
 
 " No, but he ll be in before long," she returned. 
 
 Then, having done all that suggested itself at the 
 moment, she sat down and, at once began to talk 
 very fast about the first things that came into her 
 mind. She dreaded to approach what she knew, she 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 138 
 
 must refer to, if he did not introduce the subject. 
 Once this thing was spoken of it would not be so 
 hard. They both knew what it was, and still, she felt 
 that she would be confessing a shameful secret when 
 she spoke of it. Jimmy had never seemed so close 
 and yet so far off as now, seated there opposite to 
 her, his plain, little figure squarely erect, his pose 
 expressing only polite attention, and, withal, a light 
 in his eyes which said, " I know what you re really 
 thinkin of, and that s why I came here to-night." 
 
 Yet, he sat unmoved, and listened with apparent 
 attention, but without a word until, presently, she 
 halted for loss of something more to say. Then, he 
 remarked, quietly, " And, now, as we was say in , 
 a while ago, Jack s got to go to work right off. 
 What kind of a place do you think d fit him 
 best?" 
 
 It was done so easily. Not a muscle of Jimmy s 
 face quivered. Indeed, his face and voice alike 
 affirmed that he was unconscious of having carried 
 her and himself over a shaky bridge. Apparently, he 
 had* not even noticed the moment s pause in which 
 she drew in her breath sharply and silently blessed 
 him. So, next, she found herself saying, quite as 
 if she was repeating a statement. " Yes, that s so. 
 Jack s go going to work right away ; but I don t 
 know what he d better do." 
 
 " There s a good many things he might do," said 
 Jimmy. " But some one of them is better than others, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 139 
 
 and he wants a good place one where he gets a 
 fair salary right off." 
 
 " Yes," agreed Kate. For some reason she did 
 not look at Jimmy. 
 
 " And where he ll get a chance to do better for 
 himself." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " But he hasn t done anything b fore? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " That, of course, makes it harder for him. Still, 
 it s no reason why he shouldn t do well, if he gets 
 a show." 
 
 " Oh, he ll soon get work," replied Kate, and she 
 was glad to say that; for Jimmy seemed to have 
 taken the weighing of Jack s chances into his hands. 
 " He s a bright boy," she added, " and, I m sure, 
 he ll soon get a place." 
 
 " So am I," returned Jimmy. " I wonder if 
 you re as sure as I am? " 
 
 " I don t know," Kate returned, looking up 
 quickly and catching Jimmy smiling. " How sure 
 are you ? " she asked. All at once, it seemed as if 
 Jack s chances had become a mere matter of choice, 
 and that she had been foolish to lie awake for weeks, 
 as she had, worrying about the thing. 
 
 "How sure am I?" repeated Jimmy. "Why, 
 I m just as sure as I am that, at ten o clock to-mor 
 row mornin , a young man named Jack Doran is 
 comin into my office, down-town you know where 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 140 
 
 it is and will say : I ve come for that place you 
 promised me, eighteen years ago, last July th night 
 you poked your fingers into my face and called me a 
 monkey, and nearly got struck dead by some one 
 for doin it. Now, do you think I m sure? 
 surer than you are ? " 
 
 " You seem pretty sure," faltered Kate, after a 
 moment. Her eyes were misty despite the smile 
 upon her lips. " How how did you remember all 
 that?" she asked. 
 
 " By lookin at you," said Jimmy promptly, and 
 showed her what he meant. But when the color 
 crept into her cheeks, his illustration came to a quick 
 end. He began to laugh, though her face was so 
 serious. 
 
 Kate looked sharply at him. It was queer that 
 he should laugh just then; it disappointed her a 
 little. 
 
 And Jimmy knew that it was queer. But he had 
 to laugh ; it was the one way to hide from Kate the 
 ridiculous confusion into which that look of hers had 
 thrown him. " Do you know what made me 
 laugh?" he asked, and went on quickly, "I was 
 thinkin of how you looked when you used to sell 
 papers, with short skirts and a pig-tail." 
 
 " No worse than you did in short pants and 
 skinny legs," she flashed back. 
 
 " I wasn t sayin anything about skinny legs," 
 remarked Jimmy significantly. " I was talkin of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 141 
 
 clothes. Do you know you always wear good lookin 
 ones ? You make em yourself, don t you ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Kate, wondering how Jimmy had 
 guessed that. 
 
 " I thought you must, b cause you were such a 
 good sewer when you worked at it once upon a 
 time," he explained. 
 
 Kate laughed. " How do you know I was? " she 
 inquired. 
 
 " I heard it," said Jimmy. " Say, it seems to 
 me," he went on, reflectively; "that now that you 
 re you ve got th time, it might be a good thing 
 to go to sewin again." 
 
 " I thought of that," said Kate, and one would 
 have concluded from her manner that she had given 
 the suggestion only casual attention. " I ve about 
 decided to look around for some," she added. 
 
 " Oh, have you? " remarked Jimmy. Then, con 
 fidently, " Well, you ll get it. But you need to let 
 people know about it. You ought to put up a sign. 
 There s lots of good comes of signs." 
 
 " I guess there is, replied Kate. " But" 
 
 "Just what I was goin to say," interrupted 
 Jimmy. " You need a special kind of sign. No 
 common, old tin one with painted letters, but a shiny 
 brass one. A swell sign, engraved like th doctors 
 have. Good dressmakers ought to have good signs. 
 It helps trade it helps th house, too. And, that re 
 minds me ; your landlord likes things of that sort. * 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 142 
 
 "My landlord?" repeated Kate, puzzled. 
 
 " Yes, he told me th other day that he d be willin 
 to drop th rent of this house four dollars a month, 
 if he could fill up th rest of th row. He said he 
 was almost sure he could do it, if people got to 
 travelin along this street more to to get their 
 sewin done here, I guess he meant." 
 
 Kate laughed. It was a clear laugh that came 
 from her heart the first of its kind for a long time. 
 " Oh, Jimmy ! " she cried. " Where did you make 
 all that up?" 
 
 Jimmy s face said that its owner felt deeply in 
 jured. Kate, looking at him, laughed again. " And 
 the landlord said that ? " she exclaimed. Then, her 
 laughter died in a soft, little sigh. 
 
 Jimmy defended his veracity with great warmth. 
 " It s all true," he declared. " I don t see how you 
 can laugh at what is so. And what I told you, too ! 
 I didn t think you d do it, Kate. What s more, I 
 haven t told you all. Th landlord said he d paint 
 th house if you d start in dressmakin th right 
 way. He told me that. As for th sign, I I ve 
 got just th one you want. Took it off an old house 
 I own. A a dressmaker left it behind her. If 
 you don t believe that, I ll bring round th sign to 
 
 morrow." 
 
 Kate s eyes rested on Jimmy with a look of such 
 wonderment and tender gratitude that his own chal 
 lenging glance fell. " Jimmy," she said slowly. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 143 
 
 " Jimmy, I want to tell you what I think of you ; 
 but I can t. But you know you know, don t 
 you?" 
 
 " I should think I did," replied Jimmy. " I d be 
 a dumb if I didn t. Ain t you just told me? You 
 said I didn t tell th truth, and you laughed at 
 me. Don t see how I could make any mistake about 
 that. But well, I m going to bring that sign round 
 to you, all th same." 
 
 " As stubborn as you always were," returned 
 Kate. There was something in her voice that made 
 him glad that he was what she said. He hastened to 
 retort, " No more than you always was." 
 
 Instantly, Jimmy was harking back to the days of 
 twenty-five and more years ago, and, presently, he 
 carried Kate with him by recalling to her the time 
 she had " stood off " three boys who had planned to 
 drive her from her newspaper beat. Soon, she and 
 he were deep in reminiscence. 
 
 But, before he left that evening, Jimmy said, " Oh, 
 by th by, I meant to tell you. Th Bank always 
 pays new men th first month s salary in advance. 
 It s a sort of way they have of encouragin em. 
 So you want to see that that young man gives you 
 some of his money when he comes home to-morrow 
 night. Good-by ! " 
 
 He wheeled about as if afraid that she might ask 
 questions, and was walking briskly up the street 
 before she could find words to reply. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 144 
 
 At ten o clock the next morning Jack presented 
 himself in Jimmy s down-town office. Jimmy was 
 busy at his desk, and bade him sit down. In a min 
 ute he looked up, and regarded the boy with a steady, 
 kindly gaze. 
 
 Jack was a tall, well-built fellow. He had the 
 dark luxuriant hair of his father ; his face had all of 
 his father s regularity of feature, too. But his nos 
 trils were more finely cut than Marcus s, and his 
 mouth was less selfish. Something in the pose of his 
 head reminded Jimmy of his mother; he won 
 dered how much of Kate s spirit and sensitiveness 
 were in the boy. Then, as Jack grew uneasy under 
 his scrutiny and raised his hand and smoothed his 
 hair with spread fingers, Jimmy could have sworn 
 that Marcus sat before him with his coat thrown 
 back from a fancy vest in his favorite attitude. 
 " Cut all over on Marcus s lines," Jimmy said to 
 himself. " But he s got his mother s heart, I m 
 sure," he added, consolingly. 
 
 He smothered his forebodings with this reflection, 
 and ceased to regard Jack with critical glance. He 
 got up, came around the desk, and laid a hand on 
 Jack s shoulder. 
 
 " Your mother told you what I wanted to see you 
 about, I suppose? " he said. 
 
 " Yes, sir," Jack answered. His face brightened 
 and he spoke with a heartiness that Jimmy liked. 
 " She told me you thought there might be a place 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 
 
 for me in the Union Bank. I d like very much to 
 have it; I want to go to work." 
 
 Jimmy nodded. " That s right," he said. 
 " There s a place there for you, sure enough. You ll 
 be given th chance to make your way, and a good 
 chance. But I ll be your friend, of course but 
 you ll have to make your own way." 
 
 " I mean to," returned Jack proudly. 
 
 " Good ! " said Jimmy. " I like to hear you say 
 that; for everybody has to stand on his own legs 
 with me. And there s somethin else; can you 
 keep your word? " 
 
 " I don t lie, if that s what you mean." 
 
 Jimmy s face, which had been a little stern, soft 
 ened. " Then you ll get ahead," he replied. " If 
 you lied you wouldn t, not for a minute. For I 
 want no lame ducks nor liars round me least of all 
 in th Bank. Th Bank s a sort of hobby of mine. 
 I took it up when it was down, and I gave my word 
 that th people who put their money in it 11 never 
 lose it while I m President. And my word s my 
 word ! " he added. He paused, then said abruptly, 
 " Here s a note. Give it to th Cashier at th Bank; 
 he ll understand. Good luck to you ! " 
 
 He grasped Jack s hand. The boy shook it and 
 tried to speak his thanks. But Jimmy was never 
 good at listening to thanks, and he pushed him 
 gently toward the door. " Go on now," he said. 
 " I m busy." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 146 
 
 Perchance, it was this same lack of a very com 
 mon grace that made Jimmy vigorously repudiate 
 Kate s hints that the brass plate with " Dressmak 
 ing " on it was not a second-hand one. He brought 
 the plate to her the evening after he saw Jack, and 
 she approved of it highly. But, examine it as 
 closely as she might, she could find no marks on it 
 to indicate that it had seen previous use. She told 
 him as much. 
 
 " Oh, th woman that had it was was tur- 
 rible easy on her signs," he explained hurriedly, 
 and at once took it from Kate s hands, and insisted 
 on fastening it on the window sill outside, at once. 
 
 " It looks tip-top," he acknowledged as they 
 viewed it together. Afterward, he came inside for a 
 few minutes, to tell her about the landlord. He had 
 seen him (the landlord), he said, and the latter was 
 immensely pleased to hear that she was going to 
 " start in dressmakin ." 
 
 Kate could not resist a gentle doubt of this, and 
 Jimmy had to explain the landlord s interest in her 
 welfare. Unconsciously, they slipped into talk of 
 other things. It was ten o clock when Jimmy sud 
 denly realized how long he had been staying. He 
 said good-night, and went at once. 
 
 As the door closed behind him he seemed in high 
 spirits, and began whistling, very much out of tune. 
 
 It was this whistle which, jarring on the sensi 
 tive ears of Marcus Doran as he turned the corner, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 147 
 
 half a block away, made him look up the street and, 
 recognizing Jimmy, stop short. Something had 
 flashed into his brain at the sight that caused him to 
 dodge quickly into the mouth of a convenient alley 
 way, and remain there until Jimmy had passed. 
 
 As he watched the stocky little figure go briskly 
 by a light glowed in Marcus s eyes that was not 
 pleasant to see. He made a bow to Jimmy in the 
 darkness and waved an arm. 
 
 " Come again ! Come often ! " he said, half 
 aloud. " You re welcome enough ! " 
 
 Then, as Jimmy s figure faded from sight, " It s 
 th very thing. What a fool I was not to think of it ! 
 He d do anything for her. If only ? But 
 there must be some way." 
 
CHAPTER VII 148 
 
 **"T T" T HERE did you get your sign ? " asked 
 
 ^\/ Marcus, when he came in. He found 
 
 Kate by the window, looking up the 
 
 street, but he knew that she was unaware that he had 
 
 seen Jimmy in the darkness. He had waited long 
 
 enough in the alley to make sure of that. 
 
 " Jimmy put it there," answered Kate slowly. 
 " I m going to try my hand at dressmaking." 
 
 " Jimmy s idea, too, eh ? " 
 
 " Not exactly, but I spoke to him about it." 
 
 "Oh, you did? What for?" 
 
 " Because because he spoke of it to me." 
 
 " What did he do that for?" 
 
 Kate paused a moment before replying. She 
 dreaded a scene with Marcus. It was often impos 
 sible to tell how he would receive an announcemnt ; 
 he was merciless when aroused. But, this time, her 
 helplessness gave her courage. When she did speak 
 it was almost defiantly. " He suggested it, because 
 he wasn t blind, I suppose, and had a kind heart 
 because he saw how the house looked, how Jack 
 looks, how you look." 
 
 " Me ! " exclaimed Marcus. He did not under- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 149 
 
 stand what his appearance had to do with this ques 
 tion, but the inference angered him none the less. 
 " Now, that was kind of Jimmy," he said. He 
 laughed loudly. " Do you know what I think? " he 
 went on. " I think Jimmy does entirely too much 
 looking around here. He d better look more to his 
 own business. He may need to soon/ he added 
 malevolently. 
 
 This drew no reply, and he demanded, " What s 
 he come here for, anyhow?" He bent a look on 
 Kate which he meant to be accusing, but her face 
 was turned the other way. " What s he come here 
 for so much ? " he repeated. His tone was menacing. 
 
 Kate was forced to answer him. She looked at 
 him steadily, almost contemptuously. " Marcus," 
 she said, " do you know what Jimmy has done for 
 us? Do you know what he has done for Jack? " 
 
 " No, and I don t care." 
 
 " But you ve got to hear. He s given him a place 
 in the Bank." 
 
 Marcus made no response, but curled his lip. Kate 
 went on, " He s given him a start more than you 
 ever did," she added bitterly. " In nineteen years 
 you ve done nothing for him, but teach him, by ex 
 ample, whatever he knows that he oughtn t to know. 
 It s a fine record for a father ! " 
 
 Marcus laughed. " Good enough for him, the 
 lazy lout ! " he retorted. " You ve done nothing 
 but coddle him." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 150 
 
 " I took special care of him because you didn t." 
 
 " Then keep him, and don t bother me with him." 
 Marcus settled himself in a chair and picked up a 
 newspaper. 
 
 Kate made ready to leave the room. Her heart 
 was very sore; it was always this way when Jack 
 was spoken of. Marcus had careless words for the 
 boy, even when he was in the best of humors. To 
 her Jack was a star of hope sometimes a far-away 
 star, yet the one light which survived fifteen years 
 of steadily-deepening darkness, and still shone to 
 cheer her heart. 
 
 Jack, tall, and, she was forced to confess to herself, 
 beginning to take on the sleek appearance of his 
 father, was yet, she persuaded herself, her own in 
 spirit. It was little else than natural that he should 
 be. As a boy his father had given him no attention. 
 Until he went to school he had been hers and hers 
 only. After that, she shared him with his mates, and 
 was jealous of them, every one. Six months before, 
 he had graduated from school, and she had proposed 
 to have him start in at once at earnest work. She 
 had staved off this day so long only because she had 
 ambitions for him, and intended that he should not 
 start with the handicap which the boys of her own 
 generation had had. But, when he was equipped 
 to do his part, and she suggested to Marcus that he 
 help him to make a beginning, Marcus had been 
 indifferent. Then he had made a reference in vague 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 151 
 
 terms to some place " with a contractor " ; and there 
 the thing dropped. For Kate, with Marcus before 
 her eyes, saw only danger in such employment. She 
 dreaded Marcus s tutelage; she was apprehensive of 
 the influences which Marcus might incidentally bring 
 to bear on Jack if they were engaged in the same 
 field. 
 
 So when Jimmy brought out that offer of a 
 place in the Bank her heart leaped for joy. Rec 
 ollection of it almost effaced the resentment which 
 she felt for Marcus for his indifference and his scoff 
 ing reference to Jack. His neglect and insulting 
 treatment of herself long since had ceased to excite 
 her to retaliation. She accepted these in silence, 
 though there was always a dull pain in her breast. 
 
 Presently, Marcus dropped his paper. " Look 
 here ! " he said. " I ve been thinking about that dress 
 making plan of yours, and I ve decided I don t want 
 you to go into it." 
 
 Kate was surprised into asking, "Why not?" 
 Marcus was not in the habit of giving her plans a 
 moment s notice. 
 
 " Because," said Marcus, with a great show of 
 dignity; "because Jimmy was the one that put you 
 up to it." 
 
 Kate was truly astonished now. Marcus s as 
 sumption of pride was transparent, but his words 
 meant something, and she could not imagine what 
 this was. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 152 
 
 " I know what Jimmy can do for us, and what 
 he can t/ went on Marcus. " And this is one of the 
 things he can t." 
 
 Kate said nothing. It was evident that Marcus 
 had a " piece to say," and, she knew he would say it 
 without prompting from her. 
 
 " No, he can t do it," continued Marcus. " He s 
 pretty sharp, but I m not asleep myself. Did you 
 ever think why he does so many things for you? " 
 he inquired, looking at Kate significantly. 
 
 A chill struck at her heart, but she answered 
 bravely, " Yes, because he wants to, because he s 
 an old friend, and because he likes to help me." She 
 remembered now that this was the same question in 
 another form which Marcus had put to her a few 
 minutes earlier. 
 
 " That s just it," he said, mockingly. " An old 
 friend, and wants to help you. Do you suppose I 
 believe that ? Well, not exactly. Do you think I ve 
 forgotten the days when Jimmy used to be runnin 
 after you? Do you think I ve forgotten the things 
 he said about me to you? Not a bit of it. If you 
 hadn t run off with me across the river to old May 
 er s, and come back callin yourself Mrs. Doran, 
 Jimmy d never have given up. Mayer s dead now, 
 sure enough; but that old marriage mill of his d 
 been shut down on quick enough, if Jimmy could 
 have done it b fore we got there. I ain t th fool 
 you think me. Jimmy s dead stuck on you, and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 153 
 
 always has been. That s th reason I ain t goin to 
 have him prowlin round here all th time. If he 
 wants any favors he s got to come to me for em. 
 I m boss here, and I ll tell him so." 
 
 Kate hardly heard the last words. Never had she 
 felt such disgust and contempt for Marcus as she 
 did at this moment. Yet her old spirit was not 
 quenched entirely, and she turned on him with flash 
 ing eyes. " How dare you say that ! " she cried, 
 " How dare you ! What has Jimmy done to make 
 you say it ? Not a thing ! And when has he come 
 here that you did not know it? Never! But you 
 told one truth just now. The day I ran off with 
 you I made the worst mistake I ever can make. I 
 know it ; I know it better every day that I live. You 
 coward ! " 
 
 Marcus raised a sneering face, and, all at once, 
 her courage forsook her. She dropped her arms 
 which she had raised in accusation, and ran from 
 the room and to the back of the house. 
 
 Jack was asleep in his room. She looked in, then 
 tip-toed across the floor, and bent over him. She 
 watched him for a moment, her face flooded with 
 tenderness and solicitude ; then she pressed a kiss on 
 his forehead. He moved restlessly, but did not 
 awaken. Still a little longer she stood looking down 
 on him in the half light of the room, and breathed a 
 silent prayer which, it may have been, caused her 
 lips to quiver and her fingers to lock themselves 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 154 
 
 tightly. Then, she softly moved to a sofa in one 
 corner of the room, and lay down. Something came 
 to calm her rebellious thoughts and soothe her pain, 
 and, presently, she was asleep. 
 
 Marcus was wide awake for much of that night. 
 But they were not regrets that drove sleep from 
 him. His spirits ran high; his brain was busy. 
 After Kate left he sat for almost an hour, gazing at 
 nothing, thinking very hard. He bit his finger nails 
 and once or twice got up and paced the room. He 
 lighted a cigar, and chewed on it nervously. What 
 ever it was that made him flog his brain, it was one 
 o clock before he had decided just what to do. Then 
 he threw away the cigar butt, removed his shoes, 
 and made his way silently to Kate s bedroom door. 
 He listened there, but, hearing no breathing, walked 
 in, lighted the gas and looked at the bed. When he 
 found that Kate was not there, he stood for a few 
 seconds, debating ; then he stole to the door of Jack s 
 room. He heard Kate s breathing this time, and 
 saw her form dimly outlined on the sofa. He looked 
 hugely satisfied thereat. He closed the door gently, 
 and went back to her bedroom. The door of that 
 he locked, once he was inside, and pulled down the 
 window blinds. Then he began to hunt. 
 
 First, it was Kate s desk that he investigated a 
 cheap affair of oak which did not appear as if it 
 could hold much that was of marketable value. But 
 Marcus went through the half dozen drawers and the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 155 
 
 pigeon holes of the desk as if it were a cabinet of 
 treasures. When his search disclosed nothing that 
 was to his taste he uttered a snort of disgust. He 
 came upon some letters, a fat packet of bills, and 
 some girlish mementoes, among these last a crack 
 ling bunch of violets at which he laughed. He 
 crushed the dried flowers in his fingers, honestly 
 thinking they had come from Jimmy. He never 
 knew that, unwittingly, he had destroyed a souvenir 
 of the adoration which he himself once had inspired. 
 He examined everything in the desk without shame; 
 and, at the end, in his chagrin, cleared the top leaf 
 with a blow of his arm. Then, he recollected some 
 thing, and collected the scattered papers, and re 
 placed them as nearly in their former order as he 
 could. 
 
 Afterwards, he stood, his hands deep in his trous 
 ers pockets, his hungry glance roving over the fur 
 niture in the room. And the bureau came next under 
 his hand, and Kate s meagre stock of finery strewed 
 the floor. Marcus swore savagely, but restored the 
 articles to their places. 
 
 For an hour he kept up his search in this way, and 
 without reward. Finally, he lighted another cigar, 
 and smoked while he lay back in a chair. Gradually, 
 from reflection on his bafflement, was evolved a 
 certain consolation, which, as he thought on it the 
 longer, almost recompensed him for not finding what 
 he wanted. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 156 
 
 At the breakfast table he was in quite a different 
 humor from that of the night before. Kate was 
 silent, and would have been wholly oblivious to his 
 change of demeanor if she had known his char 
 acter any less thoroughly. At first she had not in 
 tended to see him that morning; but the sight of 
 Jack, sleeping so peacefully had come before her 
 again and again, and had wrought upon her so that 
 she could view her duty only in the light of his hap 
 piness and his welfare. Therefore, she had tried to 
 put Marcus s words of the night before out of her 
 recollection ; and she met him at the table with tran 
 quil face. But, though all her thoughts, at first, 
 were elsewhere, she soon found herself listening to 
 what he said, and remembered it long afterwards. 
 
 " Jack s gone to th Bank, I suppose ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes," she replied. 
 
 He made no further remark for a little while, 
 then, " I was sort of sort of ugly about Jimmy 
 last night," he said. His voice was intended to be 
 propitiatory. 
 
 She made no response. 
 
 " I ve been thinking about what I said," he went 
 on, after another pause ; " and, if you want to do that 
 dressmakin , why, I don t care." 
 
 Still Kate made no reply. 
 
 " Oh, come ! " said Marcus. " Don t be sulky 
 about it!" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 157 
 
 She opened her lips, then closed them again, and 
 Marcus repeated his advice. 
 
 " I m not sulky/ Kate returned. " I heard what 
 you said." She was sorry at once that she had 
 yielded to the temptation to reply. 
 
 "You re going to take up th work then th 
 dressmaking, I mean ? " 
 
 She thought she divined his purpose now. His 
 innate selfishness had got the better of his dis 
 like for Jimmy. Now he was afraid she would not 
 undertake the dressmaking, and that he would so 
 lose a chance to be relieved of some of the expense 
 of providing for her and Jack. The cause of his 
 penitence turned out to be a very petty, sordid 
 one, after all. But, in a way, the discovery reas 
 sured her. There was nothing in so familiar a trait 
 as was this to cause her either alarm or shame, 
 for all that it offended her to have him parade such a 
 contemptible quality. 
 
 She cut short his further explanation and appeals 
 with the statement, rt You needn t worry. I am 
 going to try th dressmaking." 
 
 " I m glad of it," returned Marcus promptly. 
 " And Jack can stay in th Bank," he added with an 
 air of magnanimity. " As far as I go, I don t really 
 care, when I come to think it over. I suppose, he 
 ought to be doing somethin ." There he closed the 
 conversation. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 158 
 
 Straightway after breakfast, Marcus walked to 
 Jimmy s office. He walked with the confident step 
 of one who has an appointment from which he ex 
 pects much to his own advantage. Yet, for all that, 
 when he reached the room adjoining Jimmy s office, 
 he took a seat there, and waited. He knew better 
 than to try to see Jimmy when someone else was 
 with the latter. Jimmy had yet to learn of the honor 
 done him by the call; moreover, the formalities of 
 this outer office, while few, were tacitly regarded as 
 inviolable. The rule of numerical precedence was 
 absolute with all who came to see Jimmy. Marcus 
 promised himself to become an exception to this rule 
 in the near future; for the present, however, he 
 abided by it. 
 
 And, indeed, this regulation was an excellent one 
 in its way. For by it, in good time and in his turn, 
 every one who came was sure of seeing Jimmy. 
 Jimmy s " receptions " were not exclusive or infre 
 quent. There were few days on which he was not 
 at work by eight o clock in the morning, and mid 
 night often saw him still at it! If he was not in 
 " Back," he was on the streets, or at some Ward 
 Headquarters, or at the State Capital, or in a hotel 
 room engaged for the occasion. Jimmy laughed to 
 himself at the men in other occupations than his 
 own who complained because of the length of their 
 working days, and who were " too busy " to see a 
 visitor. As for himself he found it difficult to get 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 159 
 
 time to attend to all that came to his hand to do ; yet 
 it was a rare thing for him to be too much occupied 
 to grant an interview. 
 
 " A door that s hard to open keeps out lots besides 
 bad weather," he used to say. 
 
 And certainly, they were of all kinds who came 
 to see him. Marcus now idly surveyed the men who 
 sat with him along two sides of the room on 
 shiny chairs and benches set against the walls. They 
 made such an array as, some would have declared, 
 only City Councils chambers and a Police Magis 
 trate s office, on a busy day, could have furnished. 
 
 Next to Marcus was a stout man with bull neck 
 and puffy eyelids who wore a jetty mustache, and 
 broadcloth and exhaled an atmosphere of hair oil. 
 Shouldering him was an old-young man with ferret 
 face and fan-like ears who wore a coat that was 
 shiny at the elbows, greasy down the front and too 
 short in the sleeves. This person s glance seemed 
 always dodging something, and his fingers curled in 
 a way that was unpleasant. At the head of the line 
 was a little fellow with graying whiskers and eyes 
 like needles. He called everybody by his first name, 
 and, as everyone knew, had a memory for political 
 incidents that was awkward at times. In the middle 
 of one line was a workman with smutted cheeks 
 who twirled his hat with trembling hands, while his 
 furtive air said as plainly as tongue, " I wish t 
 heaven I was out a here ! " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 160 
 
 Marcus, eyeing this last man, smiled sardonically. 
 " And he ll wish that twice as hard when Jimmy 
 gets through with him," he said to himself. 
 
 Marcus made no mistake about Jimmy s ability to 
 deal a blow from the shoulder when punishment was 
 called for. Neither did he misjudge Jimmy s ability 
 and willingness to reward such as it suited his plans 
 to aid. Whichever way it might be whether those 
 who " saw " Jimmy in " Back " went from there 
 blessing or cursing, they always knew that the 
 word had been said in their case, and that the thing 
 was as good as done. Jimmy was absolute within 
 his barony. 
 
 Musing on this, Marcus became mightily pleased 
 with himself. What a thing it was to have a power 
 ful friend to go to when one needed something! 
 How comforting it was, too, to have that friend in 
 such a position that ! At this point the stout man 
 in broadcloth came out of " Back " laughing, and 
 Marcus walked in. 
 
 He closed the door behind him, and took the chair 
 vacated by his predecessor. Jimmy gave him no 
 greeting. His face was a blank, ready to be written 
 on by whatever emotion the needs of the occasion 
 might summon. 
 
 " I came in to thank you for what you ve done for 
 Kate and Jack," Marcus explained glibly. 
 
 Jimmy did not think the lie itself worthy of no 
 tice, but he was all alert to the situation which it 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 161 
 
 seemed to introduce. His suspicions, like so many 
 feelers, probed Marcus s face, but, for once got small 
 satisfaction. He said " Yes," and waited. 
 
 " You ve done a lot for Kate and Jack and me," 
 added Marcus. He had got enjoyment from this 
 scene in anticipation ; he meant to make the most of 
 it in realization. " And I want to say that I 
 appreciate it/ he continued. " It s mighty kind of 
 you." 
 
 " Come, what do you want? " demanded Jimmy. 
 There was plenty of work awaiting him; he was 
 impatient. 
 
 " What do I want ? " repeated Marcus leisurely. 
 " Why, I want to see if you won t do a little more 
 for for us. You ve got a dressmakin sign for 
 Kate." He laughed. "And Jack a place in th 
 Bank. So they re fixed. But here I am. What are 
 you goin to do for me? " 
 
 " I ve told you that," returned Jimmy, ignoring 
 Marcus s aggravating slowness and insinuating 
 voice. " If you ve come down here to try to pull my 
 leg again," he went on in sharp tones; " you re wast- 
 in your time. I m in a hurry, and you d better get 
 out; th sooner th better." 
 
 " Oh ! I guess you can give me a little time," said 
 Marcus. He smiled indulgently, then continued 
 with a wave of his hand over his shoulder to indicate 
 those in the adjoining room. " What I ve got to say 
 you don t want them to hear, and wouldn t want 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 162 
 
 to miss yourself. You re such a friend of th 
 Doran family." 
 
 He chuckled both at the innuendo which, it 
 seemed to him, was cleverly phrased and at the glint 
 in Jimmy s eyes. It was a new experience to have 
 a joke at Jimmy s expense and to face Jimmy s 
 wrath unafraid. " Yes, you re a friend of th fam 
 ily specially of Kate," he repeated. 
 
 The glint in Jimmy s eyes had leaped into flame; 
 his face was a terrible, deadly white. He pushed 
 back his chair. The plump hands were hard fists. 
 He worked his neck loose from the clasp of his collar 
 and took one step. "There s th door! Quick!" 
 he said in a clear, dry voice. " If you say that again, 
 I ll !" 
 
 " I don t have to say it again," replied Marcus, 
 more moved than his bold front betrayed. " You 
 know what I mean, and I m not goin out yet, 
 either ! " he concluded. 
 
 Jimmy started around the corner of his desk. 
 " Hold on ! " cried Marcus. " You don t want a row 
 here over this! You want to keep quiet and hear 
 all that I ve got to say." 
 
 There was a cool defiance in this warning an 
 assurance that Jimmy, of all men, would have been 
 the last to misinterpret. He saw that, whatever was 
 in Marcus s mind, it gave him courage. And, when 
 a coward has courage, Jimmy had often said to 
 himself, it s well for the other man to look behind 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 163 
 
 him. So he stood erect a moment, his blue eyes 
 boring Marcus through and through, his hands 
 clinched. Then, he sat down. Except for a curious 
 intentness in his look no one would have known that 
 he was even watchful of the man in front of him 
 But, in his heart, was something like murder. 
 
 Marcus understood enough of this to make him 
 decide to bring the thing to a head at once. " That 
 contract I spoke to you about th other day I want 
 it!" he said. 
 
 Jimmy answered him as calmly as if it was a 
 mere business question. " Yes, but you know why 
 I said I couldn t give it to you." 
 
 " I know that. I remember why you said you 
 couldn t give it to me. But that was the other day. 
 You ve changed your mind since then, I think." 
 
 " Oh, have I ? " returned Jimmy, and then, 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because you want to give it to me now. 
 I m ready to buy it." 
 
 " Th price? " asked Jimmy, after a pause. 
 
 " It s this," replied Marcus, and he leaned close, 
 and spoke a few words in an undertone. 
 
 Jimmy sprang to his feet. " It s a black-hearted 
 lie ! " he cried. His fury was intense. 
 
 Marcus jumped back. But the next instant, star 
 ing Jimmy in the face, he asked, " Do you want me 
 to prove it ? You know how ! I ll do it, if you say 
 so!" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 164 
 
 " It s a lie ! A lie ! You damned coward ! " raged 
 Jimmy. 
 
 " I ll give you till to-morrow to take that back," 
 declared Marcus. " But I want that contract 
 then" he added menacingly ; " or I ll prove what I 
 told you." He turned and walked out of the room. 
 
 Jimmy dropped into his chair. " A lie ! A lie ! " he 
 repeated in a whisper. 
 
CHAPTER Fill 165 
 
 THAT afternoon Jimmy was not in his office, 
 and no one could say where he was. The 
 waiting room filled up and emptied itself. 
 Ed Walsh, who called on particular business, failed 
 to find Jimmy where he had said he would be. It was 
 a strange thing; it was not Jimmy s habit to break 
 appointments ; stranger still was the fact that he had 
 left no word. Showell, when questioned by some 
 of his subordinates, looked wise, and replied, " Out 
 of town." That was Showell s idea of shrewdness. 
 Secrecy impressed some people and hurt no one. 
 Yet Showell, like Walsh, wondered much what 
 public errand it could be that had called Jimmy away 
 so suddenly that he had neither notified them nor left 
 an explanation where they would find it. 
 
 The fact was, the business that had made 
 Jimmy throw up all engagements did not concern 
 Walsh or Showell or any one who was with him or 
 against him in public life. It concerned himself so 
 thoroughly that it made him avoid all notice and 
 even conceal his movements. His face and manner 
 would have astonished his familiars could they have 
 watched him unobserved; and a lot of futile guess- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 166 
 
 ing would have followed. In brief, Jimmy looked 
 and behaved as does the ordinary mortal whose 
 heart has been dealt a powerful blow. 
 
 Two hours he spent out of town, yet not so many 
 miles away, visiting places which he located after 
 much questioning, and from which he came away 
 disappointed, and with a sharper pain in his breast. 
 Twice he visited public offices, and, by the magic of 
 his name, enlisted the services of every employe 
 therein. But, from all this aid, he gained nothing but 
 a surer sense of his helplessness. Back in his own city 
 again, he hurried down town and into a side street 
 on which were rows of small, brick houses. But, 
 when he halted in front of one of these houses which 
 bore a brass sign, " Dressmaking/ it was only to 
 stand a moment irresolute, then to start suddenly 
 on, shaking his head. He came again on this street, 
 a little later, and this time carried his purpose as far 
 as the doorstep of the house. But, with his arm 
 out-stretched to the bell-pull, he changed his mind 
 abruptly, withdrew his hand, glanced at the window, 
 as if afraid he had been seen, turned, and hastened 
 away. 
 
 He paused at the first corner for a minute. In that 
 time his face underwent a transformation. When he 
 walked on again, to all outward appearances, he was 
 the Jimmy whom the world knew sure of himself 
 and of what he should do. If Marcus Doran had 
 followed his movements that afternoon and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 167 
 
 had seen this later metamorphosis, he would have 
 been entirely satisfied, or else greatly perturbed. 
 
 As it was, Marcus was at Jimmy s office early in 
 the following morning, the prey to misgivings which 
 all of his arguments did not enable him to dismiss. 
 He had a proper respect for Jimmy s craft and 
 power. He knew there were depths in the other s 
 nature; and, though he had never sounded these, 
 they existed to be at once a solace and a danger to 
 their possessor. Accidentally, Marcus had got a 
 glimpse into a chamber in Jimmy s heart, and had 
 turned his discovery to account. But the feelings 
 which he had thus played on, he was aware, would 
 drive Jimmy to desperate measures before he capitu 
 lated. It was this understanding which most 
 worried him. 
 
 Turn the question as he would, however, he could 
 see but one way in which Jimmy might escape from 
 his predicament and Jimmy himself was surety 
 that he would do anything before he had recourse to 
 it. So, uneasy in mind, outwardly the personifica 
 tion of bland assurance, Marcus entered Jimmy s 
 office. 
 
 The latter was behind his desk, neatly at 
 tired, clean shaven and busy as always. Yet he 
 exhibited signs which Marcus did not fail to mark. 
 His eyes were tired, his mouth set a little too tightly, 
 something like a tremble, now and again, seized 
 upon his hand. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 168 
 
 He looked up as Marcus entered, and asked him to 
 close the door which Marcus was in the act of doing. 
 Then he said abruptly, " You shall have that con 
 tract. I cannot give it to you to-day or to-morrow. 
 
 I have some details to arrange first; but you 
 
 will get it. Does that satisfy you ? " 
 
 " Yes," returned Marcus; he was eminently satis 
 fied. It was a tribute to the worth of Jimmy s word 
 that even Marcus accepted it as equivalent to the 
 contract, signed and delivered. 
 
 " Then," said Jimmy; " I ll be glad if you ll get 
 out of this room quick! It s too small for us 
 both." He pointed to the door. 
 
 Marcus got up, affecting lazy indifference. He 
 felt that he could afford to pass over Jimmy s offen 
 sive words and manner just now. " Yes, I m in a 
 hurry, too," he replied. " Mrs. Doran s waiting for 
 
 me." 
 
 Whatever was in those words, they drove from 
 Jimmy s face every suggestion of exhaustion, and 
 Marcus walked out slowly. He was, perhaps, as 
 proud of himself at this moment as at any time in 
 his life. 
 
 For several minutes after Jimmy saw the last of 
 his back he sat erect, his thoughts traveling to a 
 certain mean, little house with a brass sign at its 
 window. It was such a fit of abstraction as it is 
 doubtful if any of those who worked with him had 
 ever seen fall upon him. None the less, it held him 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 169 
 
 fast. And, again and again that morning, between 
 interviews with those who found him as vigilant and 
 resourceful and quick-spoken as usual, it stole upon 
 him. It brought before him a woman s slim figure, 
 with brown hair threaded with gray brushed softly 
 back ; and gray eyes, wistful, yet clear and trusting, 
 and a mouth that was sweet and strong for all its 
 occasional quiver. Always this woman seemed to 
 be looking at him. He never could understand that 
 look, nor could he understand himself at such times. 
 Yet this woman was the Kate he had known so 
 long the Kate whom he was sure he never could 
 forget, though she made him wonder many times. 
 
 It was from one such day-dream that he roused 
 himself about noon, and walked quickly from 
 the office toward his old stamping ground in the 
 Twelfth Ward. Just short of a gilt sign with " Mat 
 Casey Fine Liquors " on it, he pulled the bell at a 
 modest side door, and soon was admitted into a 
 narrow hall. 
 
 It was Mat Casey who let him in, Mat Casey with 
 his hair slicked down in those inevitable artistic 
 curves, but now without the white jacket which he 
 always wore behind the bar, and with his sleeves 
 rolled up. A strong odor of ham and boiled cabbage 
 came from the door at the end of the hall, and Jimmy 
 rightly guessed when he said, " At dinner, Mat ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered Casey ; " an won t ye come in 
 an swaten th tay we re drinkin by y r prisince ? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 170 
 
 " Not this time," returned Jimmy. " But can t 
 th dinner go for a few minutes? " 
 
 " Fur ever f y loike," responded Casey. " Come 
 nto th parlur. Th ol woman s in th dinin 
 room," he explained, anticipating Jimmy s query. 
 " I ll jus shlip back, an tell her thet th front av th 
 house s no place fur ladies at prisint." 
 
 He was gone before Jimmy could check him, but 
 immediately was back again. " We re now alone 
 in a wild disirt," he assured Jimmy. " Aven th flies 
 s got cotton sthuffed in their ears." 
 
 " Very good," said Jimmy. " And I won t keep 
 you very long. I really came up to see Mrs. Casey 
 as much as you. My business is to tell you that Mrs. 
 Casey s in need of some new dresses." 
 
 Casey s jaw dropped. " Repate that, f y plaze," 
 he stammered presently ; and Jimmy repeated it with 
 such success that, this time, after a moment s wait, 
 the little Irishman said, nodding his head, 
 
 " That s so, that s so ! T s mesilf thet s noticed th 
 same; an have th drisses she shall, f you but say 
 th wurrurd." 
 
 " I do," said Jimmy. " I want her to have th 
 dresses, and right off. I know th dressmaker that 
 will suit her exactly." 
 
 " Give me th addriss, an th next cyar she shall 
 take f th place," remarked Casey. He had got 
 into his head but one thing, but that sufficed for him 
 the Boss wished Mrs. Casey to have new dresses. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 171 
 
 " I ll give you th address/ said Jimmy. " But 
 first Mrs. Casey must be told th kind of dresses to 
 order." 
 
 " Who ll tell her? Th drissmaker? " asked Casey. 
 
 " No, I will/ returned Jimmy. "Ask Mrs. 
 Casey to step in here a minute, will you?" Jimmy 
 spoke confidently, but his spirit quailed. Talking 
 about woman s dress to Mat was one thing, but con 
 versing on the same subject with Mrs. Casey was 
 quite a different affair. 
 
 Casey, presently, fetched Mrs. Casey, who, pro 
 testing that she was a sight " unfit fur Misther 
 Divlin t rist eyes on," entered, rolling down the 
 sleeves from her red arms. Towering six inches 
 above Mat, she filled in the doorway where she stood, 
 bobbing her head, her broad face shining a 
 welcome to " the Boss." Casey stood beside her, 
 apologizing for her appearance, indicating by his 
 masterful clutch on her arm that he allowed of no 
 excuses or delay when Mrs. Casey was in question 
 and Jimmy called. 
 
 Jimmy s eyes danced with delight as he encom 
 passed Mrs. Casey s generous proportions with a 
 glance. His greeting came right from his heart. 
 
 "Mrs. Casey," he declared; "never have I been 
 so glad of anything as to see how hearty you re look 
 ing. And now I won t keep you but a minute; for 
 I know you must have your hands full, watchin 
 overmuch a strappin fellow as Mat here. I only 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 172 
 
 wanted to tell you where you could find a dress 
 maker. Mat said you were going to get some new 
 clothes, and I told him I knew just th one to make 
 them for you." 
 
 Mrs. Casey gasped. " May th saints kape clost t 
 me skirts ! " she exclaimed, " but phwat has come over 
 y , Mat Casey?" Then, seeing Mat s violent wink 
 and realizing that it was " The Boss " who had told 
 her this, she turned on Jimmy. " But, Misther 
 Divilin," she said ; " I m in nade av no drisses at all ; 
 an t s Mat s bin takin too many on th house 
 b hind th bar, er he d niver bin tillin such sthories." 
 
 " No," put in Jimmy quickly. " Mat s all right, 
 and so am I. And you re all right, too. Only you 
 haven t heard it all yet. I had a bet with Mat 
 on th election in th Tenth Ward, and for a joke, 
 I bet two dresses for you against Mat s box of 
 cigars, and and I lost. So I ve come now to pay 
 my bet, and Mat Mat thought you ought to be told 
 how it was ; for I d told him that you could only get 
 your dresses at a place I had in mind. Now, you 
 understand, don t you ? " 
 
 Mrs. Casey, struggling with her amazement at 
 such an extraordinary bet and detecting in Mat s 
 broad grin that there was something behind all this, 
 shook her head. She looked from one man to the 
 other. On Mat she bestowed a glance which made 
 him tremble and throw an appealing look at Jimmy. 
 But Jimmy seemed to be unaware of any danger; 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 173 
 
 and, while his face was grave, there was a twinkle in 
 his eyes. 
 
 Finally, from awe of Jimmy rather than from any 
 conviction, Mrs. Casey acquiesced in the situation. 
 "But what kind av drisses re they t be?" she 
 inquired. 
 
 And now blankness fell upon Jimmy s countenance, 
 and he mutely called on Mat for aid. But this time 
 Mat was obdurate, and his wrinkled visage mocked 
 at the other s bewilderment. 
 
 Jimmy tried valiantly to rise to the occasion. 
 " Why ! why ! " he stuttered, understanding that 
 this was a critical stage in the proceedings ; " Why, 
 big dresses, of course ! party dresses ! " 
 
 Mrs. Casey s face evinced increasing interest. She 
 struggled with her scepticism. Jimmy was encour 
 aged. He would have cast a triumphant glance on 
 Mat, if he had dared. He went on boldly, " Yes, 
 they must be loose and have lots of lace and 
 silk and fur and feathers . No, not feathers," 
 he corrected himself; "but they must be must be 
 oh, you know what! expensive, I mean." He 
 blurted this last out desperately, but with a sense of 
 having covered the estimate in one word. 
 
 Mrs. Casey fell against the door frame. Her im 
 pression was that Jimmy had gone crazy and 
 that Mat was humoring him. But Jimmy s face, she 
 realized almost at once, was not that of an idiot, only 
 badly confused. Suddenly, she awoke to the appar- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 174 
 
 ent fact that this was all a joke. And, even the 
 presence of " the Boss " did not enable her to repress 
 her indignation at the thought that she had been 
 made the butt of such a jest. She turned on Casey. 
 
 " An t s ashamed av y rsilf y ought t be, Mat 
 Casey!" she cried. " T bring me in here, b fore 
 Misther Divilin, too, an make a fool av me loike this. 
 I ll sthand t no longer, I won t. Misther Divilin 11 
 have t be afther gittin somebody ilse t till his driss- 
 makin plans t ." With that she wheeled ponder 
 ously, and started to go. 
 
 Mat had drawn back in alarm, but Jimmy was 
 quick to interfere. He laid a restraining hand on 
 her arm. " Wait ! Wait, Mrs. Casey ! " he begged. 
 
 His voice was earnest, and Mrs. Casey was im 
 pressed. " Wait, a minute," he went on. " I wasn t 
 foolin you about wantin you about Mat wantin 
 you to get those dresses. It s all right enough, and 
 th dresses are to be expensive. Just as expensive as 
 you can think of. And here s th address of th 
 dressmaker." He put a piece of paper into her hand, 
 and stepped back. 
 
 Mrs. Casey read what was written on the paper. 
 It conveyed little information to her sorely beset 
 brain, but she accepted it as evidence that this was 
 not all a joke. She looked at Mat sternly, as if she 
 would wrench from him the full meaning of what 
 had happened; but, learning nothing from his 
 still anxious countenance, she turned a quizzical 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 175 
 
 glance on Jimmy. " An whin am I t . go t this 
 drissmaker ? " she asked. 
 
 " This afternoon or to-morrow, if you please/ 
 said Jimmy. " She doesn t know you re coming, 
 but she ll be all ready, I dare say." He paused, then 
 added emphatically, " But be sure and don t say 
 anything about it being a bet, or mention my name. 
 She might think it was a joke like you did; and it 
 ain t a joke. I ll give Mat enough money so she can 
 so you can make a cash deposit on the job. I ll 
 give Mat th rest of th money when you find out 
 what th dresses cost. And don t forget they re to 
 be expensive. That was part of th bet, and I always 
 play fair, don t I Mat? " 
 
 Mat vigorously agreed, thankful to be out of what 
 had promised to be trouble for him. He reserved 
 for another time the task of trying to make the con 
 nections between the various parts of Jimmy s story. 
 
 And now Mrs. Casey radiated joy. Her practical 
 mind had refused at first to allow her to believe in 
 this astounding good luck; but, once she was con 
 vinced that it was genuine, her feminine weakness 
 revealed itself. 
 
 " May th divil thet timpted y t make that bit 
 soon grow th wings av a saint?" she declared. 
 " May there be a good mark put agin y r name fur 
 th same! Blissed be th thought that whishpered 
 t y t say t should be drisses y d bit ! Wait till y 
 say me! Wait till y say th drisses I ll be afther 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 176 
 
 gittin ! Expinsive they re t be ! An t s th same 
 they will be! Mat! Mat! whin y say me in thim, 
 y ll be sayin that t wuz me good tashte y married 
 me fur more thin anything ilse! Now, hivin be 
 praised! but I ll make Mrs. Reilly move out av th 
 block wid invy av me. Misther Divilin! Misther 
 Divilin ! but y re a swate man ! An t s no wander, 
 at all, at all, thet t s a boss y be whin y r heart s in 
 y r head, and y r eyes s on th ladies ! May a goose 
 berry skhin cover all av y r woes, an may y live t 
 say y r childer s childer a rockin cradles ! " And, 
 with that, Mrs. Casey backed out of the room, and 
 Jimmy and Mat exchanged looks. 
 
 "Whist! s t, s t all sthraight?" asked Casey 
 in a whisper. 
 
 " As straight as can be," answered Jimmy. 
 
 Casey drew in a tremendous breath. " Saint 
 Pathrick be glorified!" he exclaimed. "Fur t s 
 not th thruth I d be hidin frum you. F shlip there 
 had bin in thet drissmakin talk, t s crape d be 
 hangin at th dure av me barroom b fore night." 
 
 Jimmy walked out of the house laughing; and, a 
 few blocks further on, turned in at the door of a 
 real estate contractor s office. Exactly what went 
 on in there only the real estate man and Jimmy ever 
 learned, but this much at least one other person soon 
 came to know. The monthly rental of a certain 
 house in a row not far away was reduced by five 
 dollars from that day; while, before evening closed 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 177 
 
 down, a painter and a paper-hanger had " hurry 
 orders " to visit that same house for specified pur 
 poses. 
 
 With such weighty business was Jimmy s morn 
 ing consumed; and early afternoon saw him again 
 in the little back office in his accustomed seat. Once 
 there, it seemed that the spirit of frivolity which 
 obtruded itself on the serious transactions before 
 noon was whisked away from him. He became 
 silent and contemplative, and, for half an hour, sat 
 at his desk alone, drumming on its top with a paper- 
 cutter, and, now and again, looking at his watch 
 with a plain expression of disapproval, while he bit 
 savagely on an unlighted cigar. 
 
 He waited for a crisis which he knew was upon 
 him and which he would have given a great deal to 
 avoid. 
 
 So, even while he scowled and wrestled with the 
 questions involved, the door opened, and the cause 
 of his discontent entered in the shape of Ed Walsh 
 Walsh, as tall and slender and well dressed as 
 when, years before, he had stood by Jimmy because 
 it suited his immediate purposes; Walsh, one of the 
 Three Czars; Walsh, whose gold eye-glasses made 
 his eyes seem colder and more calculating than ever ; 
 whose muscles had hard work to straighten the hard 
 lines of a supercilious mouth. 
 
 Walsh said " Hello ! " and Jimmy looked at him. 
 The scowl was gone from Jimmy s face. He was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 178 
 
 smiling now. He pushed back his chair from the 
 desk. 
 
 " Going up th street? " he asked. 
 
 " No/ answered Walsh. " I came here to talk to 
 you, and I want you to stay." 
 
 " It s not important, is it ? " 
 
 " It is," responded Walsh. " I tried to find you 
 yesterday afternoon. You had an engagement with 
 me, you may remember? " 
 
 " I know," said Jimmy. " But, th fact is, I had 
 some personal business. It wouldn t be put off. I m 
 sorry." 
 
 "That s all right," replied Walsh. "But, now 
 that I have found you, I must talk with you. My 
 business is personal, too; and it won t be put off, 
 either." 
 
 Jimmy sat down. His face said that he was all 
 eagerness to hear what the other " Czar " had to 
 say. 
 
 Welsh s eyes were studying him, but failed to de 
 tect as much as the quiver of an eyelid. So he took 
 off his coat, wondering if Jimmy was as unconscious 
 of his errand as appearances indicated; and then, 
 suddenly wheeling around, he shot out, " Jimmy, I 
 want to be Sheriff ! " 
 
 Jimmy lay back in his chair and laughed. " Ed, 
 you really had me guessin and worried, too, for 
 a moment," he explained. 
 
 "Haven t I made myself clear?" asked Walsh. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 179 
 
 " I thought I had. It seems to me you might take it 
 seriously." 
 
 " Oh, it s serious enough," answered Jimmy. 
 " But, you see, I thought you meant something right 
 at hand. And you ve got why, you ve got five 
 years to work up this Sheriff business." 
 
 "Have I?" said Walsh coolly. "Well, I guess 
 not. I ve just got time to work into line for th 
 place. November ain t so far off." 
 
 " No-vem-ber ! " ejaculated Jimmy. Then he 
 pulled himself up. "Say, Ed, what s th joke?" 
 His expression was that of overwhelming astonish 
 ment, lightened suddenly by a realization that he 
 had taken a jest for fact. 
 
 " There s no joke at all," returned Walsh. Then, 
 seeing that the thing had come to a head and that 
 Jimmy sincerely or not, would have him believe this 
 proposition incredible, he drew his chair closer, and 
 added, " I said what I meant. November this 
 November ! I want to be Sheriff." 
 
 Jimmy s face instantly was serious. " Ed," he 
 said, " If this ain t a joke, it comes very near it. A 
 pretty bad sort of a joke, too ; for, you know as well 
 as I do, that th place is promised already." 
 
 "Yes," replied Walsh. "To Johnson? Well, 
 Johnson has got to go overboard; that s all." 
 
 " But you surely don t understand. I ve told him 
 he should have th nomination. And there s another 
 reason. You know what that is." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 180 
 
 Yes, Walsh knew of that too. There had been 
 a bargain made. The minority party wanted some 
 thing very much which was within Jimmy s gift. 
 Jimmy was willing to hand it over for a considera 
 tion. Endorsement of Johnson s candidacy was his 
 price. The minority party, whose prospective candi 
 date s claims for the place were hopeless, agreed. It 
 had promised to put Johnson on its ticket, and sup 
 port him. Walsh realized the weight of the argu 
 ment advanced by this situation, but was unshaken 
 in his resolve. " Let em go ahead and support 
 Johnson," he said. " One opposition candidate is 
 no worse than another in this case. We can elect 
 our man, if we stand together." 
 
 " We need their help," protested Jimmy. 
 
 " No, we don t." 
 
 " And you knew about Johnson from th start. 
 Oh! come; this is a joke? " 
 
 Walsh shook his head. " What s the matter, any 
 way ? " he replied. " Can t you understand it s 
 sober earnest? And, as to my saying nothing to 
 you before this well, I changed my mind. I 
 want th nomination, and I expect you to give it 
 to me. It s owing to me. Now, look here ! " 
 
 There Walsh entered on a detailed statement of 
 his chances and plans, all of which were perfectly 
 familiar to Jimmy, though he listened to them now 
 as if he heard them for the first time. Walsh urged 
 the need of sacrificing something to the reform ele- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 181 
 
 ment. Joseph Cans, Brady s old patron, had re 
 volted some time before from his party, and now 
 was President of the Citizens League an aggres 
 sive, indefatigable fighter for all his quick temper. 
 The league was growing stronger every day. John 
 son was particularly objectionable to the reformers. 
 Therefore, the discarding of Johnson would be a 
 wise move all round, Walsh argued. 
 
 " And you? " said Jimmy. " You are a re 
 former, Ed?" 
 
 " I stand better with the reformers than Johnson 
 ever could," retorted Walsh quickly. 
 
 Jimmy admitted as much to himself. He knew 
 that Walsh had always professed to the reformers 
 that his political concessions to Jimmy had been 
 made unwillingly. Whenever Jimmy was for re 
 warding the faithful allegiance of some worker who 
 was in bad odor with the reformers, it was Walsh, 
 as he was perfectly aware, who took pains to 
 let the reformers know that he repudiated all 
 responsibility for the proposed action. But Jimmy 
 said nothing of this to Walsh or to anyone else. 
 There were things which it was wisest to remember 
 in silence until the hour of action was come. He 
 countenanced these workers in lowly places for 
 obvious reasons. Privately he was of the opinion 
 that a little dirt must stick to the fingers of those who 
 labor where soil is plentiful. Nor did he think that 
 this should disqualify them when pay day came. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 182 
 
 Johnson s was a case in point. Jimmy s promise 
 was given to Johnson. This fact he pressed upon 
 Walsh s attention again and again. For every claim 
 that Walsh made he had an objection or counter 
 claim in Johnson s behalf. So, for an hour, the ar 
 gument went on. It was a struggle from which 
 Showell had purposely held himself aloof; it had 
 been in the air for months. And now, as both of 
 these men knew, it must be fought to a conclusion. 
 
 But, after a long time, the dispute came back to 
 its starting point. " I want th place, and you can 
 give it to me," was Walsh s statement. 
 
 " The nomination, you mean," said Jimmy. 
 
 " It s th same thing," asserted Walsh. 
 
 " No, it isn t. We ve a fight on our hands. It ll 
 be a toss-up if we can get Johnson in. With you ? " 
 Jimmy shook his head. 
 
 " With me, it s certain," rejoined Walsh. 
 
 Jimmy continued to shake his head. " Look 
 here, Ed," he said suddenly. " I can give you that 
 nomination, but you don t want it. You wouldn t 
 be elected, and " 
 
 Walsh gave a sniff of impatience. "Come! 
 come ! " he said. 
 
 " You won t be elected," continued Jimmy stead 
 ily. " I never lied to you. Won t you believe me ? " 
 
 " I ll believe nothing this time. I want that 
 nomination." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 183 
 
 " Ed," said Jimmy, " have you forgotten what 
 comes a year from November ? " 
 
 " My salary as usual as Sheriff," retorted 
 Walsh with forced levity. 
 
 " We make a President then," returned Jimmy 
 gravely. " And it s to our interest to have the party 
 lines straight and strong in this city at that time." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Well, we ve got to watch close to do it. I was 
 talking to Senator Corson th other day. He says 
 there s a rumpus brewing up state. I don t freeze to 
 Corson always, as you know ; but I think he s right 
 on this. It may be th state will turn, in th National 
 convention, on th vote in this city. It s happened be 
 fore." 
 
 "What of that?" 
 
 " Just this. If we should fall down on a big 
 city election in November we ll " 
 
 " You mean on Sheriff? If I m put up? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Walsh snapped his fingers. " What s come over 
 you? " he said petulantly. " I ll slip into th Sher 
 iff s office so easy " 
 
 " That you ll never stop till you ve dropped out 
 th window. I say again, Ed you won t be elected. 
 Remember what I m saying right now." There was 
 something in Jimmy s face which should have en 
 lightened Walsh. Jimmy was hopeful that he would 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 184 
 
 see it. But he did not see it, so set was he on 
 his purpose. 
 
 "Rot!" he exclaimed. "Rot! Do I get that 
 nomination or not? It lies with you. Give me th 
 nomination, and I ll see to th rest. Th nomina 
 tion s all I ask you for." 
 
 Jimmy leaned back in his chair; his eyes were 
 fixed on Walsh. " All right," he answered. " I ll 
 tell you what I ll do th day after to-morrow." 
 
 With that promise Walsh went away half an hour 
 later. And the day but one following he got his 
 answer; and it was a promise that he should have 
 the nomination of the party for the office of Sheriff. 
 
 But the last words Jimmy said to him were, 
 " Ed, you won t be elected, I m afraid ! You don t 
 want to forget that I said so, now ! " 
 
CHAPTER IX 185 
 
 4CTT1T THAT, you here again?" Jimmy looked 
 V^ U P fr m ms office desk, and choked 
 back the wrath which surged in his 
 breast at the sight of Marcus s sleek figure. He 
 knew what Marcus had come for. He came only 
 when he had decided on something which he wanted. 
 He applied the screw without regard to the difficulty 
 of procuring what he want ed. He cared not how 
 often he came. He was quite aware of his hold on 
 Jimmy. The experiences of the several months 
 which had elapsed since he made that significant 
 secret announcement to Jimmy had demonstrated 
 this to his satisfaction. Only the habitual laziness 
 which disinclined Marcus to do more than was nec 
 essary to provide th money which he spent so lav 
 ishly on everyone but Kate and Jack, restrained him 
 from asking for more than he did. 
 
 Fortunately for Jimmy the fulfillment of the con 
 tracts which Marcus demanded and secured required 
 a certain amount of work on his part; and Marcus 
 was not such a fool as to fail to make a show of 
 doing this work. He knew that not even Jimmy 
 would long have contracts to award, if the con- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 186 
 
 tractor to whom he gave them did nothing but ac 
 cept the pay. There are limits to the patience and 
 pocketbooks of even a well disciplined proletariat. 
 Marcus did just as little as he was compelled to do. 
 When the profits from one of these jobs was gone, 
 he walked into Jimmy s office, and told him he 
 wanted something more. 
 
 He did this with such assurance and unconcern 
 that Jimmy had a struggle with himself each time. 
 Nothing about Marcus irritated him as did this care 
 less assumption. His own helplessness only made it 
 the more difficult to swallow. But he was tied, hand 
 and foot, as it were, and he knew it; and Marcus 
 regarded his efforts at self-control with an amused 
 patience which rubbed in the humiliation. 
 
 To-day Marcus wanted a contract; and got it, or 
 rather the promise that he should have it. But 
 Jimmy could not smother his choler entirely. 
 
 " You want to be careful," he said. " There s 
 such a thing as goin too far. There s such a 
 thing as blackmail, too! Maybe, you ve forgotten 
 that?" 
 
 Marcus could not restrain a start. He had not 
 thought of blackmail. Perhaps, Jimmy might be 
 able to fix that on him. And all the trouble which 
 he might bring on Jimmy in retaliation would not 
 clear him (Marcus) before a jury, if brought up 
 on such a charge. His sallow face whitened. For 
 just an instant he cowered before the man whom 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 187 
 
 he had humbled a score of times that summer. Then, 
 suddenly, he remembered something, and his face 
 cleared, and he threw back his head, and laughed. 
 
 "That s rich!" he said. "I m not afraid of 
 blackmail. There s reasons why. You wouldn t 
 want to bring a case of blackmail into court against 
 me; now, would you? " 
 
 Jimmy had not fired that shot with any real hope 
 that it would be effective. He knew that, at best, 
 it was a paper bullet which might frighten Marcus 
 for the time being, but would not cripple him. He 
 realized that it had been a foolish thing to do. 
 Marcus s next words made this plain. 
 
 " And don t you get worked up over these little 
 things you ve been puttin in my way ! " he warned. 
 "If you kick too much I ll get grumpy, and make 
 you hand over something big. I m awful easy to 
 get along with when you don t rub me th wrong 
 way. But, well, don t lose your temper, that s 
 all!" 
 
 He picked up his hat, and said, " Good Morning." 
 His complacent tone made Jimmy s blood boil. 
 
 Marcus himself was so elated over this latest 
 humiliation of Jimmy that he bragged of it in a 
 vague sort of way to Kate that night. It was es 
 pecially gratifying to him to do this, because of 
 Kate s admiration of Jimmy, which, though un 
 spoken, did not escape his attention. But he was 
 too cunning to be tempted into a statement which 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 188 
 
 should excite her alarm. He was properly appre 
 hensive of any confidence which she might be led 
 into making to Jimmy, if she suspected that he 
 was under compulsion. Marcus believed, with good 
 reason, that, whatever she might know of Jimmy s 
 gifts to him, she attributed these to Jimmy s volun 
 tary sympathy for herself and Jack. And he did 
 all he could in a negative way to encourage her in 
 this belief. 
 
 The effect of his disclosure to Jimmy had been 
 to keep Kate and Jimmy apart for several months. 
 His earlier conversation with Kate regarding 
 Jimmy s visits to the house had contributed to the 
 same end. But it was not his idea to have this 
 separation continue. Therefore, while he said 
 nothing more to Kate which should make her draw 
 away from Jimmy, he was shrewd enough not to 
 urge her to see the latter. He allowed time and 
 the friendship of the two to bring them together. 
 When this happened he made no allusion to it. He 
 disarmed Kate s suspicions. She was soon ready to 
 believe that Marcus s aversion to Jimmy had be 
 come little more than indifference. 
 
 Kate herself had not been so happy since the 
 early years of her married life. Marcus seldom 
 came near her and had little to say when he did. 
 Already she had grown to think of this as a bless 
 ing. Her love for him had been so often humbled 
 that her pride refused to be its ally. His 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 189 
 
 brutally outspoken remarks about Jimmy s feelings 
 toward her had filled in the measure of her disgust. 
 She looked forward to her life with Jack; and be 
 cause of this, at times, was almost content with what 
 was. She found that it was a good plan not to look 
 back. 
 
 She was busy, and she was independent of Mar 
 cus as far as money went. That brass sign on the 
 front window had been a charm. Its allurements, 
 apparently, were not to be resisted. First had come 
 the softening of the landlord s heart with regard to 
 the rent of the house, and, next, his remarkable 
 diligence in papering and painting the house anew. 
 Then, came the trade which the brass sign adver 
 tised. The van of customers was led by Mrs. Casey. 
 Her mammoth proportions Kate had viewed with 
 dismay, and her presence and speech tried her 
 gravity sorely until she learned that the vanity of 
 Mrs. Casey was all contained in the frankly ex 
 pressed hope of, " shamin Mrs. Reilly an satisfyin 
 th criticul tashtes av Misther Casey." 
 
 After that Kate laughed with Mrs. Casey, and 
 they became confederates in the double conspiracy. 
 To be sure, she made a desperate and partly success 
 ful fight against embodying all of the hues of rain 
 bow and every kind of material and trimmings in 
 the two wonderful dresses. But that was an inci 
 dent which ended amiably; and, thereafter, their 
 agreement was complete. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 190 
 
 Mrs. Casey wanted " color " in her gowns, and 
 she got it. She wanted " expensiveness," and she 
 got that, too. The result was gorgeous. Yet Kate 
 gave a little, wry smile when Mrs. Casey donned the 
 gowns for a final inspection, and, like a peacock, 
 trailed up and down the sitting room, exclaiming: 
 "Oh, my! Oh my! T s this will be th death 
 av Mrs. Reilly! T s a birrud a Paradishe Oi 
 am, Mrs. Doran ! An thet s no lie, at all, at all ! " 
 
 Kate cogitated much on the subject of Mrs. 
 Casey. The latter s apparent recklessness in refer 
 ence to the cost of dresses was, somehow, not in con 
 sonance with the other glimpses she got of Mrs. 
 Casey s character, upbringing and present life. 
 Moreover, it was most curious, she realized, that 
 Mrs. Casey should have come to her for her new 
 gowns when there was a multitude of widely known 
 dressmakers. But Mrs. Casey could be uncommuni 
 cative when she saw fit ; and Kate was left to supply 
 her own explanation in the case O f her customer as 
 in the cases of those many other seemingly strange 
 things which followed. 
 
 The most she could be absolutely sure of was that 
 Jimmy was a prophet and knew a little about the 
 market for fine sewing. Truly, politics was an all- 
 embracing occupation ! She took Jack into her con 
 fidence in a general way, yet instinctively refrained 
 from being particular as to causes. That was odd, 
 too, she realized ; for, of course, she should have no 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 191 
 
 secrets of this kind from Jack. Jack, to her, repre 
 sented all that was brightest in her home, and the 
 proud hours to come as well. She believed that her 
 ideals of Marcus in earlier years would be retrieved 
 in the successes of Jack s manhood. 
 
 Jack gave reason for the belief. He was industri 
 ous, quick of apprehension, and of good address. At 
 the Bank they thought a great deal of him, as she 
 discovered from the admissions he made when he 
 came home particularly happy. His salary had been 
 increased ; already, he was promised an advancement 
 in position. These successes were sweet to- Kate; 
 Jack s triumphs seemed quite as much hers as his. 
 They were doubly gratifying when Jimmy told her 
 that Jack had earned his advancement; for, she 
 knew, Jimmy always said what he meant. And, 
 aside from an occasional word of advice or com 
 mendation, he declared, that lie had given Jack no 
 aid. 
 
 " That s th only safe way," said Jimmy. " A 
 house propped-up is dangerous to everybody near- 
 by." 
 
 Jack s manner seemed quite in keeping with this 
 doctrine of independence. He developed a confi 
 dence that, to Kate, was an augury of achievement. 
 He was changing so quickly from boy to man that 
 she was reaching out a hand, as it were, to steady his 
 steps long after he told her, " Oh, mother ! don t 
 worry about me so. I m getting along all right. I ve 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 192 
 
 got to learn things for myself. You don t want me 
 to be a molly-coddle." 
 
 No, she did not want that, she acknowledged; 
 therefore, she began to train herself to see him go 
 out when he chose without plying him with anx 
 ious questions and cautions. Jack was right, she 
 assured herself. He must try his wings unassisted, 
 or he would never be strong. Strength was what 
 she most admired in a man. A new pride in him 
 grew up alongside of the tender love which had 
 sought only to shelter and guide him. 
 
 One day in October he announced to her, 
 " Mother, I ve got an invitation to make a call to 
 night with one of the men at the Bank." 
 
 "With Mr. Rowell?" asked Kate. Jack talked 
 much of him. Rowell was his senior, and, from all 
 she could learn, was the sort she was glad to have 
 Jack go with. Twice he had come home with Jack. 
 He was of blood quite different from herself, she 
 realized at once. To have him for Jack s companion, 
 therefore, pleased her when she found that he was 
 a gentleman in instincts and manner as well as 
 position. 
 
 "Yes, with Rowell," Jack answered. "He s 
 taken a shine to me. To-day he asked me to come 
 with him to meet his cousin. She s " 
 
 If there is a sixth sense it surely has its highest 
 development in a mother s heart. Kate s heart 
 throbbed a message to her now. She could not 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 193 
 
 translate it literally; it found stumbling expression 
 in her quick interrogation, " So, Mr. Rowell s cousin 
 is a girl?" 
 
 " Of course," answered Jack frankly; " why 
 shouldn t she be a girl? " Then that boyish shame 
 of being detected in seeking a girl s company, a shame 
 which soon forgets to blush and stammer and de 
 clares itself proudly, made him color and add con 
 fusedly, " You see, I ve got to go with him. He s 
 kept at me and at me to meet his cousin. So, really, 
 I d better go and be through with it." 
 
 The explanation was specious. Kate smiled. 
 "Who is his cousin? What is her name?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "Miss Struthers at least, I think, that s her 
 name. Yes, that was it Molly Struthers." 
 
 " It s a pretty name," said Kate, for lack of some 
 thing better to say. She had never heard of Miss 
 Struthers before. 
 
 " Oh, all girls names are alike," he remarked 
 with airy scorn. 
 
 Kate laughed, but she said nothing more. Nor 
 did she ask him in the morning how he had enjoyed 
 his call. Several times at the breakfast table he 
 opened his lips as if to make a confidence, and closed 
 them as often as he found his mother looking at him. 
 
 That night he came out quite abruptly, " Mother, 
 did you ever hear of a man named Chambers 
 William M. Chambers?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 194 
 
 Kate had a faint recollection of having read the 
 name in the newspapers, but she could not place it. 
 " I ve heard of it, I think," she said. " Why? " 
 
 " I met him the other night," Jack replied. " He s 
 Vice-President of the Central Railroad, you know. 
 He s a mighty fine man." 
 
 " Where did you meet him ? " 
 
 "Oh, didn t I tell you? At Miss Struthers . 
 He s her uncle. She s an orphan. She lives with 
 him and her aunt. She s slender and has dark 
 brown, silky hair. She s got a pretty nose. And 
 her eyes are awfully soft, but she always seems to be 
 laughing. It s funny for a girl," he finished 
 lamely. 
 
 " But Mr. Chambers? What about him? " 
 
 " Why, I was going to say he s a big man with 
 a deep voice. He thinks she s about the nicest thing 
 there is. She s lived with him a long time, you see. 
 She is just the same as his daughter if he had one. 
 She s just out of school. You ought to see the dress 
 she had on the other night. It was a dandy. She 
 was very nice; I felt as if she was an old friend of 
 mine. She s like a fellow, understands all Oh, 
 you know what I mean, don t you? She isn t a bit 
 like a girl she I " There he broke down. His 
 mother was regarding him with distracting fixity. 
 He suddenly decided that he would be late for some 
 important engagement. 
 
 What Kate thought of all this she never told. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 195 
 
 But, for half an hour after he had left the room, she 
 sat with hands idle in her lap, trying to learn the 
 lesson with which some mothers never concern them 
 selves, but which it costs most mothers a pang to 
 master. 
 
 One evening a couple of weeks later, seeing Jack 
 pass the sitting room door on his way out, she called 
 to him. He came in, a little reluctantly, she thought. 
 But this was fully explained when she saw that he 
 was dressed in his best clothes and wore a new 
 pair of gloves. " Going out for a little while to 
 see a friend," he hastened to explain. 
 
 " He seems to be particular how you dress," she 
 remarked mischievously. 
 
 " Y-e-s," he admitted. 
 
 " I wish you d bring Mr. Rowell to call on me. 
 Ask him when you see him this evening, won t 
 you ? " she pursued. 
 
 " I I won t that is I don t believe, I ll see him 
 this evening." 
 
 " Oh, I thought you would see him at Mr. 
 Chambers . Well, maybe, Miss Struthers will give 
 him my invitation. Ask her, will you ? " 
 
 For a moment Jack tried to bluff it out. But his 
 face burned and his mother s eyes were laughing. 
 " Oh Mother! " he exclaimed, and bolted. 
 
 Privately, he wondered if all women had as keen 
 vision as his mother. Did Miss Struthers see 
 through him so easily ? He was concerned. She had 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 196 
 
 asked him to call on the occasion of his second visit 
 in Rowell s company; but she had mentioned no 
 time. He had supplied the omission to suit his 
 own desires. First, he inquired of Rowell if he was 
 going to call on his cousin on a particular evening; 
 and, the reply being satisfactory to Jack, the latter 
 made a toilet such, as he confessed to himself, he 
 had never made before. Yet it was with some 
 misgivings that he found himself in the drawing 
 room at Mr. Chambers s house. 
 
 But he need have anticipated no discomfort, as 
 he realized when Miss Struthers entered tire room. 
 She came forward with outstretched hand and a 
 smile so genial that he felt at ease at once, and his 
 admiration grew. 
 
 The description with which Jack had supplied his 
 mother did Miss Struthers an injustice in at least 
 two particulars. One of these was her eyes which 
 were tender and deep for all their mischievous 
 sparkle; the other was her voice which was ex 
 tremely low and musical. Molly Struthers was a 
 girl who understood enough of her feminine charm 
 not to neglect it. She was quick-witted and a tease. 
 She could have been the belle of her set with a little 
 more art. She was never likely to be all which that 
 name commonly implies because of her frankness 
 when offended and because of the sound yet some 
 what uncompromising views of her aunt and 
 uncle. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 197 
 
 Mr. Chambers was a college graduate by force of 
 his own industry and sacrifices. He had lifted him 
 self to the responsible position which he held with 
 the Central Railroad by untiring energy through a 
 long term of years and by faithfulness. He was a 
 democrat of democrats in his ideals. His wife was 
 a gentlewoman of quiet tastes and an intense admira 
 tion for her husband. They were as one in their love 
 for their niece and in their desire that she should 
 have all which their wealth and unequivocal position 
 in the community could furnish her within the 
 bounds set by what they regarded as her own wel 
 fare and happiness. From her childhood they had 
 taught her to estimate those she met In accordance 
 with the dictates of her heart. As a result, at eighteen 
 Molly was liked by everyone who knew her, and 
 knew not a few persons at whom some of her ac 
 quaintances turned up their pretty noses. She was a 
 dainty embodiment of independence with a warm 
 heart and an out-and-out way of speaking, at times, 
 whether in defence, approval or reproof. 
 
 It was a knowledge of all this which had encour 
 aged Tom Rowell to introduce Jack Doran. He had 
 hesitated when he first saw Jack s home and the brass 
 sign " Dressmaking." But he liked Jack immensely; 
 and, by and by, he told Molly about him. Molly 
 was not deterred by the brass sign. " He doesn t 
 wear it," she said. " If he s all right and good com 
 pany, you bring him. I think I shall like him." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 198 
 
 Tom was delighted to find that his cousin and his 
 friend promptly set the seal of their approval upon 
 his introduction. 
 
 While Jack was removing his gloves on this par 
 ticular evening Mr. Chambers came in, and shook 
 his visitor s hand cordially. He suggested that they 
 go back into the library where it was " more com 
 fortable." Jack in a minute found himself seated at 
 a log fire. 
 
 The room was a square one, hung with heavy cur 
 tains, set all around with low oak bookcases, above 
 which were etchings and a few water colors. The 
 surroundings were a revelation to him with their 
 warm, rich colors and their atmosphere of refinement 
 and repose. He buried his feet in a thick rug with 
 a sense of luxurious enjoyment. If he had cherished 
 a hope that he would spend the evening with Molly 
 alone, he was partly reconciled to Mr. Chambers s 
 presence by the latter s hearty interest in all that 
 they talked about and by the many times that Molly 
 turned her bright eyes on him. 
 
 Presently, Mr. Chambers said, " You have a man 
 at the head of your bank who is very interesting to 
 me." 
 
 "Jimmy?" said Jack, unconsciously lapsing into 
 the name so familiar to him. 
 
 Mr. Chambers laughed. " You don t call him that 
 at the Bank, I suppose ? " 
 
 " No," corrected Jack. " But, you see, 7 know 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 199 
 
 him very well. He s my mother s best friend and 
 mine, too." 
 
 " Is he? " said Molly. " Now, why didn t Tom 
 tell me that; he told me so much about you. He s 
 spoken of Jimmy, too. But I didn t know that you 
 were a Boss ? " 
 
 "A boss?" repeated Jack; then, detecting her 
 mocking look, " Yes, I m a Boss. Hadn t you heard 
 that Jimmy always consulted me?" 
 
 " About what? " queried Molly. 
 
 " About the mail at the Bank, and about what 
 I want at Christmas time." 
 
 " Jimmy must be a pretty good sort of friend," 
 she declared. 
 
 " There s not a better friend anywhere. Why 
 
 he ." He was about to tell some things which 
 
 Jimmy had done for him; but, remembering that 
 reference to such deeds offended Jimmy, he con 
 tented himself with adding, " he never forgets any 
 one that s straight with him." 
 
 " So I ve heard," put in Mr. Chambers. " And 
 I admire some things in him. His sturdy resolu 
 tion and his self advancement are so thoroughly 
 American. Whatever he is he has made himself." 
 
 " He s like you in that, Uncle Will," remarked 
 Molly. 
 
 Mr. Chambers smiled. " Many persons wouldn t 
 take that as a compliment," he said. " But I under 
 stand what you mean; moreover, I don t altogether 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 200 
 
 dislike the comparison. I m sure there s a great 
 deal in Devlin which folks who only vote don t 
 know about." 
 
 " Indeed, there is," asserted Jack warmly. 
 
 " Tell me a lot about him," commanded Molly. 
 
 "What?" inquired Jack. 
 
 " Oh about politics." 
 
 " I don t know much about politics," admitted 
 Jack. " You see, I m only near Jimmy at the Bank 
 and when he comes to our house. He never speaks 
 about politics in either of those places." 
 
 " Why, I thought that Bosses talked about noth 
 ing else." 
 
 " Perhaps that s because we only know them by 
 what we read of them in the newspapers and by 
 what they make us do at the polls/ suggested Mr. 
 Chambers. " But, I believe, that there is a side to 
 them which we don t see." 
 
 " If you could see Jimmy when he s at our house, 
 you d be sure of it," declared Jack. " And I guess 
 he isn t so different outside with anyone who is 
 fair to him." 
 
 " Just so," assented Mr. Chambers. " He s fair 
 to all who are fair to him, eh? Yet, I suppose, 
 there are many who think they deserve more than 
 they get from him ? " 
 
 " Maybe," answered Jack. Then his loyalty to 
 Jimmy pricked by this admission he went on, " But 
 anyway, he keeps his word, and he has the kindest 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 201 
 
 heart there ever was. I ve known him ever since 
 I was a baby and he s always been doing some 
 thing for me. People who abuse him don t know 
 him, that s all." 
 
 " I don t believe they do," agreed Molly. " Jimmy 
 must be fun. I m going to know him some day." 
 Her cheeks glowed. Her liking for Jack was 
 deepened. His earnest, ringing voice and quick de 
 fence of his friend were much after her own manner. 
 
 Mr. Chambers had watched the boy s eyes kindle 
 and listened with approval to his outspoken champi 
 onship of his benefactor. These were signs of quali 
 ties which matched his own ideas of what a friend 
 ship should be. " I know, of course, what Devlin 
 looks like," he said. " But I have never come in con 
 tact with him. Much of what I know of him has 
 come through a friend of mine, Mr. Cans. I would 
 like to meet him." 
 
 " Would you ? " said Jack. " I ll introduce you. 
 Would you like to know him ? " he asked, turning to 
 Molly. 
 
 " Yes, I should. But, dear me ! I should be 
 dreadfully afraid. A real Boss ! " 
 
 Jack laughed. "Afraid!" he cried. "You 
 wouldn t be afraid when he talked to you." 
 
 " Well, you must first introduce me to your 
 friend," interposed Mr. Chambers. 
 
 " When ? " questioned Jack eagerly. " To 
 morrow ? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 202 
 
 " No, not to-morrow ; but some time soon, if you 
 
 win." 
 
 " Oh, I ll do it," answered Jack. 
 
 " I tell you what I wish you d do for me," said 
 Molly. " I wish you d get me his autograph for my 
 collection. I ve got the names of a good many fa 
 mous people, but I haven t got a Boss." 
 
 " Of course, I ll get it. J. Devlin Boss ? " 
 
 "Yes; and, after that, Jimmy just as if we 
 were old friends, as you and he are." 
 
 " All right, I ll get it to-morrow. No, I forgot, 
 he won t be in town to-morrow. He s going to 
 Washington for a week with Senator Corson. But, 
 as soon as he comes back, I ll I ll bring it to you," 
 he finished with an air of solving the last difficulty. 
 " May I ? " he added, surprised that she did not 
 promptly embrace this unique proposition. 
 
 " I don t know whether I ll be home," she re 
 turned calmly. Then quickly, " But you can give it 
 to Uncle Will for me. You ll take good care of it 
 for me, won t you, Uncle Will ? " 
 
 " I shall try," replied Mr. Chambers with intense 
 gravity. 
 
 " All right," assented Jack. 
 
 Then Mrs. Chambers came in. She had a low, 
 sweet voice ; and Jack, who had met her on his pre 
 vious visits, liked her. They made a little circle 
 about the fire, and talked for half an hour. Nine 
 o clock struck, and Jack s hopes of seeing Molly 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 203 
 
 alone revived, only to dwindle as the two superfluous 
 members of the party kept their seats. He felt that 
 it was essential that a better arrangement should be 
 made about the delivery of that autograph. When 
 Mrs. Chambers got up with the remark that she 
 had some letters to write, and, five minutes later, 
 Mr. Chambers was called away by a visitor, Jack s 
 heart leaped. The clock hands still gave him half 
 an hour. 
 
 But the ten minutes which followed were a self 
 revelation of stupidity. With all his eagerness to 
 appear at ease and to engage Molly s attention, he 
 found his tongue tied and his hands dreadfully in 
 the way. Molly, on the contrary, rattled on at a 
 great rate. She told him about a book she had been 
 reading. She talked about Tom Rowell, and spoke 
 of him in a way which made Jack realize, for the 
 first time, that Rowell had his limitations. She 
 asked him if he knew a man named Cans. 
 
 " I know an old man named Cans. He comes 
 into the Bank once in a while." 
 
 " How old? " queried Molly. 
 
 " About fifty, I guess." 
 
 " Oh, dear me! that isn t Dick." She laughed. 
 
 "Dick! An ugly name," reflected Jack. "Isn t 
 it? " he said aloud. 
 
 " No. That must be Dick s Uncle Joe father s 
 friend. Dick s twenty-four. You ought to know 
 him." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 204 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " He s such a jolly fellow. He s good looking, 
 too." 
 
 " His uncle isn t," said Jack promptly. 
 
 " He s very different looking from his uncle." 
 
 "Is he?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 There was a pause. Jack made a desperate rally. 
 "When can I call again?" he asked. 
 
 " Why, any time. Uncle likes you, and, I know, 
 he 11 be glad to talk with you some more about your 
 friend, Mr. Devlin." 
 
 " But you? " 
 
 " Oh, I m interested in Mr. Devlin, too. Haven t 
 I asked for his autograph? I must tell Dick about 
 him. Couldn t we arrange to have Dick here when 
 whenever I meet Mr. Devlin?" 
 
 " I don t think so ! " said Jack so sharply that she 
 gave a little jump. 
 
 " My gracious ! " she exclaimed. " So Mr. Dev 
 lin knows Dick, and doesn t like him ? " 
 
 He frowned. " I don t think they know each 
 other," he said. " But, I m sure he wouldn t want 
 to meet a crowd. That is " realizing that this 
 savored of rudeness, " I mean, I think, it would 
 be better if there wasn t any stranger about when I 
 introduce Jimmy to you." 
 
 " But Dick isn t a stranger. He s known us a 
 long time." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 205 
 
 " Known you a long time? " asked Jack, helping 
 to turn the knife in his wound. 
 
 " Oh, yes, he knows me very well." 
 
 "How well?" 
 
 " I wouldn t dare say. You might ask him." 
 
 " I won t do it! " declared Jack. 
 
 " What was I thinking of ? Of course, you 
 wouldn t. Dick wouldn t like it." 
 
 "Why wouldn t he?" 
 
 Oh I don t know." 
 
 " Would you care?" 
 
 "Why should I care?" 
 
 " Then you don t care ? " 
 
 "About what?" 
 
 "Dick? That is if I asked him?" 
 
 She laughed. "How silly you are! I was only 
 fooling." 
 
 " Only fooling ! About how well you knew 
 Dick Mr. Cans, I mean?" 
 
 " No, about asking him. Of course he wouldn t 
 say how well he knew me to you. But I ll tell 
 you. I know Dick as well Let me see? As well 
 as " 
 
 "Me?" 
 
 " Oh, lots better than that," she scoffed. " Why, 
 Mr. Doran, I ve just met you." 
 
 " You met me two weeks and two days ago." 
 
 " So long ago as that? But, of course, I remem 
 ber now. It was the night that Tom Rowell was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 206 
 
 here one of the nights. Do you know, I can al 
 ways remember anything that happens when Tom s 
 around? He s such a quiet fellow; he makes me 
 think." 
 
 "Does he?" gloomily. 
 
 " Yes " 
 
 " But how well " Jack hastened to interpolate 
 when she resumed suddenly, " I think a lot about 
 Tom. He s my cousin and, of course, I ought to." 
 
 Jack assented grudgingly. He wasn t sure that 
 cousins should be so much in each other s thoughts. 
 
 " But dear old Tom isn t a bit like a cousin in 
 some ways," she mused. 
 
 " Tom " was growing more intolerable than 
 " Dick." Jack said firmly, " You were going to tell 
 me how well you knew Mr. Gans ? " He looked so 
 solemn when he made this suggestion that she 
 laughed. 
 
 " Why, what s the matter? " she exclaimed. 
 
 " You " Jack began blunderingly. He did not 
 know just what he was to say. She struck in briskly, 
 
 " Yes, I have been talking a great deal about " 
 
 She paused ; Jack leaned forward eagerly. " About 
 two of my particular friends," she finished com 
 posedly. 
 
 " Do you talk about your other friends to them 
 to Mr. Gans and Tom ? " he managed to say. 
 
 " Why, yes, sometimes." 
 
 " And I m one of your friends? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 207 
 
 "Of course, that is, you are my friend, aren t 
 you?" She looked at him with wide-open eyes. 
 But there was something which popped in and out 
 about the corners of her mouth which puzzled Jack. 
 At any other time it would have been a dimple 
 which he would have remembered as one of the 
 many adorable possessions of The Only Girl. At 
 this moment he was not sure that it was not a mock 
 ing sign, and that it played at hide-and-seek in con 
 tempt of his misery. Abruptly he burst out, " I 
 guess, I m not anybody s friend." 
 
 Instantly Molly s face grew serious. Her eyes 
 were penitent; the dimple was effaced by a sorrow 
 ful little line which drew at her mouth. " Don t say 
 that," she chided softly. " You are a friend of lots 
 of people. And you have lots of friends. I m I m 
 one of them." 
 
 Just then the embers of the fire must have flared 
 up and shed a great light over the room ; for, in that 
 instant, everything about him became exceedingly 
 bright and cheerful to Jack s gaze. A radiant figure 
 of a slim girl in a dress of gray crepe, her lustrous, 
 brown hair in thick braids, crowning her tender face 
 and softly shining eyes filled in the vision. " I 
 hoped you were my friend," he stammered in be 
 wildered delight. 
 
 And with that the face of the radiant creature 
 became dangerously demure once more. " Oh ! " 
 she cried ; " I forgot to show you my California 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 208 
 
 views." She got a big portfolio from beneath the 
 broad oak table, and invited him to draw up a chair 
 by her own. 
 
 Just as Jack discovered that this particular Cali 
 fornia tour " personally conducted " was to be a 
 journey of enchantments Mr. Chambers reentered the 
 room, and, at Molly s suggestion, took the portfolio 
 on his knees, and began to explain the views. He 
 had much to tell and a fine, rich voice; but it was 
 plain to Jack from the start that the delights of Cali 
 fornia were, after all, not what he had anticipated. 
 
 Then the clock on the mantel beat off ten musi 
 cal strokes, and the cathedral gong in the hallway 
 took up the echo lest Jack might have grown sud 
 denly hard of hearing. There was no neglecting the 
 warning. His good sense told him he should leave. 
 
 He got up. " I must go," he said. " Good night, 
 Mr. Chambers ! Good night, Miss Struthers ! " 
 
 Mr. Chambers shook hands with him, and fol 
 lowed him to the door. Out of the tail of his eye 
 Jack saw Molly standing by the fireplace. He grew 
 bold at the situation thrust upon him. " Please don t 
 forget, Miss Struthers," he said, turning swiftly in 
 the doorway ; " I will come next Wednesday eve 
 ning to bring you Mr. Devlin s autograph." 
 
 Molly turned. He was not certain whether it was 
 the flickering shadow from the flames or a smile 
 which danced across her face as she answered, " Oh, 
 but you forgot. I am going to a party with Dick, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 209 
 
 on Wednesday evening." Then, as Jack s heart 
 sank, " But it was Thursday evening, anyhow, that 
 you were coming, wasn t it? " 
 
 In his room that evening Jack wondered what it 
 was he had said which made Mr. Chambers laugh 
 so immoderately as they parted on the doorstep. 
 
CHAPTER X 210 
 
 TIMMY," said Jack on Wednesday evening 
 | of the following week; " will you write 
 
 J your name on a piece of paper for me? " 
 
 Kate was busy in the kitchen when Jimmy ar 
 rived ; Jack intended to make good use of the oppor 
 tunity of speaking to Jimmy alone. At the Bank 
 there were few spare moments. 
 
 Jimmy looked up quickly. " My name ? " he re 
 peated, wrinkling his brows. " What do you want 
 it for?" 
 
 " I d like to have it for an autograph collection," 
 replied Jack. 
 
 " Sort of Rogues Gallery of names, eh ? " 
 
 " No, a collection of celebrated people. There s 
 lots of big names in it." 
 
 " Let s see it." 
 
 " It it isn t here." 
 
 " Can t put my name into anything till I see what 
 sort of company it s goin to keep. You show it to 
 me; then, maybe, I ll find somebody good enough to 
 sit next to in th book." 
 
 " I m afraid I can t. The collection belongs to a 
 friend." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 211 
 
 " Oh ! " There was meaning- in the utterance. 
 Jimmy had written " J. Devlin " many times on 
 Bank paper; he had a prejudice against putting it 
 on any other document. Jack knew this. So he ex 
 plained, after a brief hesitation, " This friend of mine 
 has heard a lot about you, she said. And she asked 
 for your name for her collection." 
 
 " It s funny your mother didn t ask for it herself," 
 remarked Jimmy. 
 
 Jack s stare of astonishment was too much for 
 self-restraint. A twinkle surprised Jimmy s gravity. 
 Jack comprehended. You knew it wasn t for my 
 mother," he said. " It s for a girl." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Jimmy. A look of understanding 
 passed between them. Somehow, Jack found it 
 easier to be discovered by Jimmy than by his mother. 
 Perhaps, his weakness had grown more shameless. 
 At any rate, he repeated, " Yes, it s for a friend of 
 mine Miss Struthers." 
 
 "An old friend?" 
 
 " Yes, I met her a month ago. She s a niece of 
 Mr. William H. Chambers, the Vice-President of 
 the Central Railroad. She s a bully girl, and she 
 wants to meet you. You d like her, I know. She s 
 interested in politics. She has everything but a Boss; 
 and, she says, she wants him more than anything 
 else." 
 
 "Whew!" whistled Jimmy. "I ll look out for 
 myself. Where do you think I d better hide? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 212 
 
 "Hide?" Then Jack s face cleared, and he 
 laughed. " I guess, you won t have to hide. All 
 you ve got to do is to write your name for her, and 
 give it to me." 
 
 Jimmy exhaled a long breath. " Jerusalem ! You 
 had me guessing. Thought I was goin to be 
 snatched up on th street, first time she came across 
 me. Oh, yes, I ll write my name, if that ll satisfy 
 her." 
 
 Jack got paper, pen and ink. Jimmy sat down at 
 a table. He poised the pen, then remarked, " On 
 second thoughts, I guess, I ll write a letter to her." 
 
 " A letter would be fine." 
 
 " Well, you go over there, then. I can t write 
 with anyone looking over my shoulder." 
 
 Jack sat down in a corner. Jimmy wrote slowly 
 for a couple of minutes. Then he held the paper 
 over the lamp, and waved it to and fro. 
 
 "Let s see?" asked Jack, coming forward. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," answered Jimmy, calmly fold 
 ing the sheet. " It s a personal letter to Miss 
 Struthers, and private." 
 
 The conceit tickled Jack s fancy. " All right," he 
 said. " Here s an envelope." 
 
 Jimmy enclosed the letter, and sealed the envelope. 
 "What s th address?" he inquired. 
 
 " Just put on her name. I ll take it to her." 
 
 " No, siree ! You might open it. I mail my 
 letters." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 213 
 
 " I won t open it. I ll put it right into her hands." 
 
 "Straight?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "How soon?" 
 
 " To-morrow night." 
 
 " I guess I ll have to give it to you, then." 
 Jimmy wrote " Miss Struthers " in a cramped hand 
 across the envelope, and gave it to Jack. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chambers had guests in the draw 
 ing room when Jack called the following evening, 
 and he rejoiced to find himself in his favorite nook 
 beside the fire-place alone with Molly. Presently, 
 he introduced the subject of his promise at the time 
 of his last visit. He produced Jimmy s letter. 
 
 " For me? " asked Molly. " How jolly ! Do you 
 know what s in it? " 
 
 " Read it," he replied, with importance. She broke 
 the seal, and ran her eye over the paper. She gave 
 him a fleeting glance. He did not understand it. 
 " Well, what do you think of it? " he inquired. 
 
 " I think that Jimmy is a very good friend of 
 mine." 
 
 " He couldn t be anything else." 
 
 She did not seem to be impressed by the impli 
 cation. " And you said he always told the truth, 
 didn t you ? " she asked. 
 
 " Yes, I m sure he does. You can believe what 
 ever he says." 
 
 She folded the letter neatly, and began to put it 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 214 
 
 into the envelope. " I must say I think it s unselfish 
 of you to admit that/ 7 she remarked. 
 
 Jack became vaguely uneasy. " Why so? " 
 
 " Because you brought me this letter in person." 
 
 His bewilderment grew. " It was just like Jimmy 
 to write it," he hazarded. 
 
 She was slipping the letter back and forth; sud 
 denly she held it out to him. " It was very kind on 
 his part," she said soberly. " I shall thank him for 
 it myself. But, of course, I don t want the letter; 
 and, I suppose, you ll excuse me, under the circum 
 stances, if I say good night ? " 
 
 " Good night ? " he stammered. What had hap 
 pened? " Why I ve just come? What s the matter? " 
 
 " Nothing," coolly. " Only I m sure there are 
 other girls who would appreciate Mr. Devlin s auto 
 graph more than I could under the circumstances." 
 Jack was dumbfounded. " Here s the letter. Please, 
 take it," she prompted. 
 
 He took it mechanically. " I don t know what 
 I ve done," he blurted out. 
 
 " Nothing, Mr. Doran. As I say, you were really 
 very good to bring the letter, knowing as you did, 
 what was in it." 
 
 " But I don t." 
 
 "But you d read it?" 
 
 " I haven t read it," he replied energetically. 
 
 " Why, you let me think you had when I asked 
 you!" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 215 
 
 Jack reddened. " Maybe I did; but I hadn t read 
 the letter all the same. Jimmy wouldn t let me." 
 
 Molly s lips twitched. " I don t wonder he 
 wouldn t," she remarked severely. " But, perhaps, 
 you d better read it now. It might it might make 
 you less generous in offering to get autographs from 
 your friend, Mr. Devlin." 
 
 Jack snatched the letter from its covering. He 
 read it hastily. He did not see her cover her face 
 with her hands; nor did he hear the trickle of 
 laughter which escaped through her fingers. His 
 faculties were intent on a treacherous epistle. 
 Jimmy s letter was as follows : 
 
 " Miss STRUTHERS, 
 
 " Dear Madam: 
 
 " Our friend, Mr. Jack Doran says you are a bully 
 girl, but that you want a boss. You mustn t believe 
 all that he tells you. I don t. This offering to get 
 an autograph is an old dodge of his. I ve written 
 my name ten times for him for friends of his. He 
 says they re bully girls, but that they all need a boss. 
 Maybe, they do; but you don t, I m sure. So you 
 watch out for Jack Doran. He s a sly one. 
 
 " Yours truly 
 " J. DEVLIN JIMMY." 
 
 Jack looked up ; his face was scarlet. " That isn t 
 so not a word of it ! " he exploded. " It was a low 
 down trick ! " Then he saw that Molly s eyes peeped 
 from their ambush, laughing, and he waxed wroth. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 216 
 
 He knew that he had been made to look like a fool, 
 whatever other injury he might have escaped. "I ll 
 tell him I ll tell Jimmy " he began. 
 
 " You ll tell him he s a good friend of mine," she 
 supplied. " You ll tell him just that, if you don t 
 want me to tell the truth to those ten other girls who 
 asked for an autograph." 
 
 " But there aren t any other girls." 
 
 Molly s nose was tilted. 
 
 " There isn t one." 
 
 Molly s eyes were scornful. " No, really there 
 isn t one," he urged. 
 
 "Not one?" she queried softly. 
 
 " That is oh, of course, there s one" he hastened 
 to correct. 
 
 "You re sure?" 
 
 " Dead sure." 
 
 " Then suppose you give her the autograph that 
 belongs to her." 
 
 Jack extended the letter. " Why, I know her, do 
 I ? " she exclaimed, and added quickly, " Well, I ll 
 keep it anyway, for the present." She tucked away 
 the letter. Then her face brightened. " Oh, I 
 nearly forgot to tell you something. Dick Dick 
 Cans is coming here this evening." 
 
 She paid no attention to Jack s darkened face. 
 " Yes, and I m particularly glad he s coming this 
 evening." 
 
 " Are you? " said Jack gloomily. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 217 
 
 " Yes, because I want him to meet you." 
 
 This had a better sound. " Does he want to meet 
 me?" Jack inquired. He could not understand 
 why any man who knew Molly should wish to meet 
 another man of her acquaintance. 
 
 "He said," she answered sweetly; that he be 
 lieved you and he would be good friends. I m glad 
 of that. You know, Dick doesn t like some of the 
 men I know." 
 
 " Don t he." Jack wasn t certain whether this 
 last confidence held good or evil. " Perhaps, we ll 
 be friends," he conceded ungraciously. " But why 
 doesn t he like the others ? " 
 
 " He does like some of them. Harry Jenks and 
 Corlies Porter and he get along splendidly together. 
 But I don t know just why that is; for I never cared 
 much for Mr. Porter or Mr. Jenks, and I see very 
 little of them: Do you know them ? " 
 
 " No, I don t," returned Jack abstractedly. Then, 
 " Who is it that Mr. Cans doesn t like? " 
 
 " Let s see. Tom Rowell is one, and well, Tom 
 is the only one I can think of, right off." 
 
 "I don t think I ll like Mr. Gans," said Jack 
 decidedly. 
 
 " Why? " She looked disappointed and surprised. 
 Then, suddenly, " Oh, I see ! You think you won t 
 like him because Tom and you are such friends." 
 
 Jack made no comment. " Aren t you great 
 friends? " she asked. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 218 
 
 " Yes, pretty good friends." 
 
 " I don t wonder. Tom is an awfully nice fellow, 
 Do you know " leaning forward confidentially, 
 " I never can tell which I like best Dick or Tom." 
 
 Jack groaned inwardly. It seemed that there was 
 no escape from this inquisition. He was blindly 
 groping for a loophole when the curtains in the door 
 way were parted, and some one said, " Good eve 
 ning, Molly." 
 
 Jack decided that never before had he heard so 
 unpleasant a voice. It was intolerably familiar, too. 
 But he rose and waited with the patience of a Tanta 
 lus while Molly shook hands with the newcomer. 
 
 He was tall and blonde with the beginnings of a 
 mustache. He twirled this last or tried to, as Jack 
 observed as he spoke to Molly. His back was 
 partly turned on Jack. Nothing could be more 
 homely than his profile, the latter thought. Molly 
 seemed to find something in the new comer s face 
 which pleased her. She said something to him which 
 Jack could not hear. An unintelligible muttering 
 came from under that absurd mustache. Its wearer 
 turned. Jack instantly saw that his first opinion of 
 the profile was false. The full face was homely be 
 yond comparison. He fancied that there was a 
 patronizing smile on the lips. That made him 
 mad. 
 
 "This is Mr. Cans, Mr. Doran," said Molly 
 prettily. She gave Jack a glance that made his 
 
J DEVLIN BOSS 219 
 
 pulses leap, and flashed its mate upon the other 
 man. 
 
 Jack bowed stiffly. 
 
 " Very glad to meet you," said Dick Cans in a 
 tone that made Jack determine to find an excuse to 
 lick him the first time they met alone. Aloud he 
 replied, " I m glad to know you." 
 
 Then they sat down, Jack in his former place, 
 Dick in a chair which he adroitly slipped in between 
 the latter s and Molly s chairs. Jack found himself 
 looking at Molly s hands and the lower part of her 
 gown. Dick s bulky figure blotted out the rest. For 
 this reason he hitched his chair closer to the fire 
 place, and was rewarded by a larger share of Molly 
 and a clearer view of the only portion of Dick s 
 face in which he was interested. He did not dis 
 cover until he reached home that night that the nap 
 on one side of his coat and trousers was singed. This 
 was one of the mementos of a miserable evening. 
 
 Others repeated themselves to him in the form of 
 remarks made by Molly to Dick and by Dick to 
 Molly remarks at which they both laughed and at 
 one of which she colored bewitchingly. Molly was 
 at pains to explain these remarks to Jack, assisted by 
 frequent references to Dick, who, the while, com 
 placently stroked his upper lip, smiling indulgently 
 and interjecting a word, now and then, which was 
 senseless to Jack, but apparently fraught with deli 
 cious reminiscences to her. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 220 
 
 Jack was so miserable that, when half past nine 
 struck, he mistook it for half past ten; and, with a 
 sense of virtuous resignation, got on his feet, and 
 said he must go. 
 
 Dick got up lazily, as if he didn t care. " Why, 
 we are having such a good time," he drawled. 
 " But I m glad to have met you. Hope I ll see you 
 soon again." Then he began to caress that insuffer 
 able down on his lip and turned to something on the 
 mantel. His air plainly said that he would donate a 
 few minutes of Molly s company. Jack felt him 
 self choking, yet helpless. 
 
 But Molly had arisen, and she walked with Jack 
 to the hall door. She stood there while he put on his 
 overcoat and gloves. " It s been awfully jolly to 
 have you," she said. 
 
 He contrived a smile, but it was a rueful one, and, 
 suddenly, her eyes softened. " I m afraid I m 
 afraid we talked a lot about things that you weren t 
 interested in," she said penitently. " But Dick " 
 
 " Do you really like him? " Jack said. 
 
 " Yes, of course, I do, just as I like Tom and 
 you." 
 
 He beckoned her into the hallway with a mysteri 
 ous nod. When she was close to him he whispered, 
 " Will you talk to me as as you did to him 
 about about what we know sometime when he s 
 by to hear us? " 
 
 She looked at him archly. His face was begging, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 221 
 
 and her own relented. She never had seemed so 
 beautiful to him as she did then. She held out her 
 hand, and said, " I ll tell you something I think 
 mustaches are hideous ! " 
 
 Jack registered a mental vow to wear a smooth 
 lip forever. " And I hope his won t grow and that 
 he ll never shave it off," he added to himself. If 
 his exultation showed in his face, he did not speak 
 it. He simply said " Good night." 
 
 All the way home he kept one hand the ungloved 
 one in his coat pocket. There was a delicious tin 
 gling there where a little, warm palm had lain for a 
 moment, or he fancied that there was, which was 
 just as satisfactory. 
 
CHAPTER XI 222 
 
 IN June the Chambers closed their city house, 
 and went to the Maine coast. Afterward, they 
 planned to spend some time in the mountains. 
 Jack felt that the sun had hidden its face when he 
 saw the Boston express pull out of the long train- 
 shed, and Molly s dainty figure shrink into a white 
 blur upon the platform of the last coach. He went 
 back to the Bank, counting the days which must 
 elapse before he could get the letter which she had 
 promised to send him when they were settled in the 
 hotel. He was such a gloomy being that Jimmy ral 
 lied him; and, thereupon, discovered that Jack s 
 boyishness was evaporating and that his illusions 
 were tangible things sometimes. 
 
 Kate tasted the bitter and the sweet of finding that 
 her comforting words, for once, failed to dissipate 
 his unhappiness, but that he now spent most of his 
 evenings at home. She drew a forlorn cheer from 
 the fact that, after a month of brooding, he seemed 
 to find something to interest him outside; and, as 
 often as not, was out of the house by eight o clock 
 in the evening, not to return frequently until late. 
 But even this diversion did not save him from oc- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 223 
 
 casional fits of depression which her cheery words 
 failed to dispel. The symptoms were not unique; 
 she pacified the stirrings of her heart with the reflec 
 tion that she could not expect him to live always in 
 her life. 
 
 Early in that Spring Jack was promoted to a place 
 in line with the cashier s office, and was given a 
 salary double that which he had been receiving. His 
 progress was phenomenal ; Kate with all of her con 
 fidence in him conceded this, and realized wherein 
 such progress must have its initiative. Jack ac 
 knowledged his indebtedness to Jimmy also; but he 
 let her see that he identified in himself at least some 
 of the qualities which were responsible for his ad 
 vancement. " I mean to get on, mother," he said. 
 " I m sure I will." 
 
 It was an assertion of independence which pleased 
 her. She wanted her boy to be a man all through. 
 Self-reliance was a requisite. It was admiration 
 of this attribute which helped to weaken her 
 remonstrances when Jack s habit of spending his 
 evenings away from home first made her uneasy. 
 It was the way of every young man, she reflected. 
 As Jack declared, " It s the only way of making 
 friends outside of the Bank. I ll never get ahead, 
 if I don t have them. Look at Jimmy ! Where d he 
 be, if he hadn t known a lot of people and been 
 among them so much ? " 
 
 The illustration was almost convincing to her; 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 224 
 
 yet that night, long after he had come in and fallen 
 asleep, she stole to his room. His dark, smooth hair 
 and handsome head against the pillow recalled to her 
 a face which once had been enshrined by her girlish 
 infatuation. His expression was so tranquil, so 
 clear and youthful. In the little while she bent over 
 him her apprehensions were stilled. She went back 
 to her own room, rebuking herself for having har 
 bored a doubt. Then, too, there was Jimmy ; he had 
 the utmost confidence in Jack. 
 
 Yet, perhaps, in her pride in Jack, Kate under 
 estimated the watchfulness of Jimmy. Certainly, 
 the latter saw a great deal more than she thought he 
 did. It is equally sure that it was not his habit 
 to be a casual observer, Kate should have got a 
 hint of this as it related to Jack from a conversa 
 tion which she had with Jimmy not many months 
 later. 
 
 He was now a visitor at the house, and had 
 dropped in on this evening soon after supper. About 
 eight o clock Jack appeared in the sitting room, to 
 say good-night to his mother. 
 
 He was dressed stylishly, and he had a smart air 
 about him which somehow jarred on Jimmy. He 
 said " Good evening?" to the latter, then stooped 
 and kissed his mother. 
 
 Jimmy always liked to see him do that. He had 
 sometimes speculated as to what he would have 
 his son do, if he had one; and, the first time 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 225 
 
 he saw Jack kiss his mother, he decided that that 
 was certainly one of the things he would wish to 
 have his son do always. It was queer what ideas 
 came into an old bachelor s head! He would have 
 been very much upset if they had leaked out. 
 
 On this evening, when Jack had gone out, Jimmy 
 sat in silence a moment, then remarked, " He s a 
 good sort of a boy." 
 
 " I guess he is," returned Kate; " there is no one 
 just like him." 
 
 Jimmy smiled. " And you tell him that every 
 day, of course? " 
 
 " Pretty often, I guess," admitted Kate. " But 
 Jack s the sort that doesn t spoil; and, then he 
 thinks a great deal of me. That s some excuse." 
 
 " It s strange," mused Jimmy, but she caught a 
 tantalizing gleam in his eyes. 
 
 " Yes, strange to an old chronic grumbler like 
 you," she asserted. " To me it seems just as it 
 should be. We re chums Jack and I. I tell him 
 everything, and he does the same by me." 
 
 Jimmy made no response at the moment; he 
 seemed to be lost in contemplation of the toe of his 
 boot. Then he asked, almost as if of himself, 
 Everything?" And, the next instant, went on 
 quickly, in answer to her echo of the word, " I 
 mean do you tell Jack everything? If you do, I m 
 going to object, right here. He must be laughing 
 every time he sees me and thinks of some of th 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 226 
 
 things I used to do and how I looked when I was 
 a boy." 
 
 " Privately, he couldn t think you any bigger fool 
 than you were," she retorted, laughing. "Oh, 
 Jimmy ! you were such a fool once ! " 
 
 " Maybe, maybe," he assented. " Anyway," he 
 went on ; " Jimmy in short pants and freckles and 
 with newspapers " 
 
 " And a pug nose and thin legs," put in Kate. 
 
 " And a long-legged, skinny girl for a friend," 
 added Jimmy, and continued; "Jimmy like that is 
 a is very different from Jack. Sometimes / used 
 to get my clothes at a hand-me-down s while Jack 
 Jack, I daresay, he gets his at some good tailor s ? " 
 
 " At Simpson s one of the best places." 
 
 " I believe in keeping yourself neat," remarked 
 Jimmy, but he made a mental note of the fact that 
 Simpson was a fashionable tailor who charged the 
 highest prices for his clothes. " In th evenings," 
 he went on aloud, " I used to be hustlin round on 
 my own account, or working for Brady. But Jack, 
 he spends his evenings " 
 
 " He spends a good many of them outside now. 
 I m rather glad of it. He s been so gloomy since ." 
 She shot a glance of inquiry. 
 
 Jimmy nodded. " Since She left," he supplied. 
 He laughed. " It s a pretty important she with 
 him." 
 
 Kate sighed. " Yes, but I guess it s all right." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 227 
 
 " Of course it is," he rejoined. " As far as I 
 can find out, she s a sensible sort of a girl. And 
 she comes of good people. I know Mr. Chambers 
 by reputation. He s a square man and has a level 
 head. His wife, I hear, is a good deal of th same 
 kind. They could be right up on top in society, as 
 they say, if they wanted to. But they don t seem to 
 care so much for that crowd that they can t have a 
 lot of friends that ain t so tony. They re in th band 
 wagon themselves, but they know people of all sorts 
 brown-stonters and footmen everyday folk 
 and -plain people without anything but an honest 
 name and a house number like you and me." He 
 seemed to enjoy the identification. 
 
 Kate laughed with him. Then she said quickly, 
 " Jimmy, you know a lot about everything." 
 
 " Oh, some things," he retorted lightly. And, 
 more gravely, " But don t you worry about this girl 
 business. Jack can t do better than go round with 
 th right sort of girl. If it ever comes to anything 
 that girl 11 treat him th way he deserves; and, as 
 Mr. Chambers is her uncle I don t think there ll be 
 any row raised." 
 
 " A dressmaker s son " ventured Kate doubt 
 fully. 
 
 " Is good enough for anybody, if he s straight and 
 has got th education Jack has. Now, don t talk any 
 more that way; it makes me mad clear through. If 
 there s any trouble, you watch me pile right into 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 228 
 
 it. But there won t be. I ve sized up Chambers ; he 
 fills th bill. If Jack behaves himself and th girl 
 comes to like him enough why Jack Doran 11 be 
 Jack Doran, and that s all there ll be to it. Anyway, 
 that s going to be a long time ahead of where we 
 are now. What we want to do is to help Jack all we 
 can at home. He can do more for himself outside 
 than we can. Don t say a word about his going to 
 see that Miss Struthers. She won t eat him. But 
 keep up his spirits while she s away. Low spirits are 
 like laziness good ground to grow trouble. Work s 
 good for him; that fills in th daytime. What did 
 you say he does in th evenings? " 
 
 " He belongs to a club, for one thing. He spends 
 much of his time at the Webster Literary and De 
 bating Club. You ve heard of it, of course. I 
 hadn t before Jack told me about it ; but, he says, that 
 some of the cleverest fellows he knows go there. 
 Anyway, I m sure it s a great deal better for him 
 than running on the street. Jack never dissipates. 
 The worst he ever does is to play a game of billiards. 
 That s not very bad, now, is it?" Her voice was 
 vibrant with pride. 
 
 " Kate ! Kate ! " said Jimmy to himself. Then, as 
 he watched her, her eyes shining, something got the 
 matter with his own, and he excused her blindness. 
 Nor should she be any the wiser, if he could help 
 it, he decided. " Yes, Jack s heart is in th right 
 place, and he ought to get ahead," he told her. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 229 
 
 But Kate thought the words spoken a little me 
 chanically, under the circumstances. She wondered 
 that Jimmy should seem to take such scanty interest 
 in Jack s pursuits. 
 
 If she had seen Jack and Jimmy one afternoon, 
 not long afterward, she might have changed her 
 mind. It was in Jimmy s office at the Bank. 
 
 " Jack," said Jimmy, " th note-teller s place is 
 going to be vacant at th end of this month. Calkins 
 has resigned. 
 
 " Resigned ! " Jack, at a sudden recollection, 
 looked startled. Calkins had been note-teller at the 
 Bank for six years almost, and was a particular crony 
 of his. It was Calkins who had introduced him 
 into one very pleasant place. 
 
 " Yes, resigned," said Jimmy. " Th fact is, he 
 was asked to resign. He was doin things that you 
 can t do in this bank, and stay here. For one thing, 
 I found out that he was a member of th Webster 
 Literary and Debating Club I think that was th 
 name of it. At least, it wasn t nothin but a gam 
 bling den. That ended Calkins ! " 
 
 Jimmy was looking directly at Jack but he did 
 not seem to notice that the latter s hands were trem 
 bling. He went on in an even voice. " Of course, 
 there ain t a word to be said about this. Specially 
 don t speak of it to Calkins. I m telling you about 
 it, because well, as much as anything else, be 
 cause 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 230 
 
 " I won t ! I give you my word I won t " be 
 gan Jack. 
 
 Jimmy caught him up briskly. " No, you don t 
 need to say that. I know you won t repeat what 
 I ve been saying to you. I trust you, my boy. 
 That s a good deal. Trust is a lot like money. As 
 long as you ve got it you can do business ; if you lose 
 it, nobody wants to have much to do with you. And 
 trust s easier to lose than money is sometimes ; and 
 it s scarcer, too. So you want to keep tight hold of 
 what you ve got. That s what I m trying to do 
 here in th Bank. You know how I stand with th 
 Bank; I told you when you came here. My word s 
 pledged to steer it straight, and not let anybody lose 
 money in it. There s a pile of people willing to bank 
 on that, too. But , well, I didn t start in to preach ; 
 I told you about Calkins, because I wanted you to 
 know what it was that knocked him out, and 
 made th place that you re to fill I hope." 
 
 "Me? Note-teller? His place?" Jack in an 
 instant was lifted from trembling fear to a pitch 
 of delight that made him almost speechless. His 
 eyes grew misty; as though Jimmy was far off, 
 he heard him answer : 
 
 " Yes, at least, you re to be acting note-teller till 
 you get into harness and show that you can fill th j 
 place th way it s got to be filled. And that s all." 
 
 Jimmy turned to some papers on his desk. Jack 
 walked away, trying to put his gratitude into words. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 231 
 
 As he reached the door he was able to say / You 
 know how much I think of this. I won t forget 
 what what you ve done for me. I ll be the kind 
 you want, if it s in me; I give you my word! " 
 
 Jimmy looked up quickly. His eyes seemed to 
 Jack to bore him through. " All right," he. said 
 slowly ; " I ll take your word." 
 
 That night, when Jack told his mother of his 
 advancement at the Bank, he said nothing of the 
 conversation which Jimmy and he had had. After 
 thinking it over he had decided that Jimmy would 
 not wish him to refer to it in any way. If he did 
 speak of it, he was afraid that his mother might get 
 an inkling of why Calkins was to leave the Bank; 
 and that . Well, he had good reasons for desiring 
 to keep this secret. For several weeks he lived in 
 apprehension lest Calkins, learning who was to 
 be his successor at the Bank, should, from spite, 
 mention certain circumstances which were in his 
 keeping. 
 
 But Calkins said nothing. Some one had taken 
 precautions. Calkins had been told that the fact that 
 he had been asked to resign should not be men 
 tioned so long as he said nothing of the Webster 
 Literary and Debating Club and its membership. 
 
 But, if Jack was ignorant of this, he did realize 
 that Jimmy had a faculty for discovering things 
 that seemed well hid, and that a big heart beat in 
 that stumpy, little body, and that a clever brain 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 232 
 
 worked behind the blue eyes which peered from under 
 their thatch of brown and gray and were so set 
 about with wrinkles. He told his mother enthusi 
 astically, " I believe Jimmy s about the smartest man 
 I know of. He s good, too, though they do call him 
 every bad name. He s a boss, and he makes politics 
 pay; but, they ll be no better off, I m sure, if they 
 knock him out as they want to." 
 
CHAPTER XII 233 
 
 CC^WTOU don t go out any more in the eve- 
 1| nings," remarked Kate, a week after Jack 
 had been promoted at the Bank. " Have 
 you gone back on those friends ? " 
 
 " Not on my best friends," he answered. " And I 
 like to be home." 
 
 "With me? You thought I was lonely! That s 
 the real reason. And I never thought of it ! " 
 
 Jack said nothing, but even his silence reproached 
 him. His mother s heart put another construction 
 upon his silence. " God Bless him ! He s a good 
 son," she said to herself. She went over to him, and 
 put both arms about him in a mother hug. Recol 
 lection of his deceit stung him cruelly then. He 
 wondered how he could have taken advantage of her 
 trust. But that was all behind him now, and he 
 meant that it should stay there. Yet he knew that 
 this would not be without a struggle. There were 
 times when a strange weakness stole upon him. 
 Then he hardly understood himself. At such times 
 his mother s figure was obscured and he forgot her 
 words. When these spells fell upon him the present 
 an easy going present in which he gratified the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 234 
 
 whim of the moment and was carried away by the 
 excitement which he sometimes craved was all 
 with which he concerned himself. The atmosphere 
 of the Webster Literary and Debating Club had been 
 congenial to this agreeable forgetfulness. As the 
 best way to fortify himself against its attractions he 
 was resolved to throw himself into his work with 
 redoubled energy. The evenings he would spend in 
 his mother s company until until She came back to 
 the city. He felt that in Her company he was 
 safe. 
 
 Her letters to him had been few and filled to the 
 brim most often with the names and news of people 
 of whom he had never heard. She appeared to be 
 supremely happy. And that did not seem just right 
 to him. He tormented himself trying to decide what 
 relation her happiness bore to the persons who 
 figured frequently in her letters. Many of the things 
 these persons did seemed silly to him, the things 
 they said inane. He wondered that she should take 
 the slightest interest in them. But he read her ac 
 counts of them over and over. 
 
 His own letters were often doleful and sometimes 
 foolish. They were always serious. These epistles 
 made plain that two buildings remained standing 
 in the city the Bank and his own home. Occa 
 sionally it appeared that the Chambers mansion also 
 had existence, though solely as a place of melancholy 
 reflection. The people remaining in the city were 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 235 
 
 the writer, his mother, the writer, Jimmy, the writer 
 and the writer. The rest of the world was con 
 gregated at the place to which he addressed his 
 letters. 
 
 But in the latter part of September the letters 
 ceased; in a day the city became populous, and the 
 sun shone bravely once more over a long desolated 
 place. Jack came home late on that afternoon, his 
 face glowing, a joyous note in his voice. Before he 
 had spoken, his mother said, " Well, what kind of a 
 time did they have? " 
 
 " Oh, splendid," he replied. " But she s very glad 
 to get back. I saw her at the station. She s burnt 
 brown ; her hair s darker. She s taller than she was. 
 She said I was taller, too. I m glad I m not short. 
 She s going to be home all winter. She s coming 
 out in society. She wrote me a letter that I never 
 got, and one of mine she never got. Wasn t it 
 
 queer? She " He swallowed the rest with a 
 
 gulp of tea which made his face red. 
 
 His mother remarked that she was glad to hear 
 that Mr. and Mrs. Chambers had had such a pleas 
 ant summer. But her gentle irony was wasted. Jack 
 already had opened a new budget of the historic 
 sayings and doings of The Only Girl. He was blind 
 to the smile upon his listener s face. His enthusiasm 
 and delight reasserted themselves in boyish fashion. 
 The supper was a monologue before an audience of 
 one. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 236 
 
 A week later Jack received an invitation to dinner. 
 It was extended informally by Mrs. Chambers. Yet 
 for two days before the night, the subject of male 
 attire was discussed in every bearing. Kate was 
 posted on the latest fashions. It required all her tact 
 and motherly persuasion to withhold him from the 
 purchase of a " swallow tail." At first he was sure 
 that his fortunes were irretrievably ruined if he wore 
 the cutaway coat whose acquisition had marked the 
 attainment of his majority. 
 
 When he arrived at his host s house, and saw that 
 Mr. Chambers and Mr. Joseph Gans, the other guest 
 were not in evening dress, he experienced a relief 
 inexpressible. 
 
 It was the first time he had been in the house since 
 Molly s return. He was delighted to find that his 
 place at the table was next to hers. But he was made 
 somewhat nervous by his surroundings. The burn 
 ished mahogany with its freight of silver and cut 
 glass, the cabinets of delicate china and crystal, the 
 plate racks on the walls, the ebon butler of majestic 
 port and, most of all, the table itself with its plate 
 and glass and a great bowl of loose roses in the cen 
 ter foreshadowed a ceremonial which made him un 
 comfortable. He was afraid that he would not come 
 out of it gracefully. And under Her eyes ! He was 
 puzzled by the ranks of forks and knives at his place; 
 he opened his napkin, unprepared for the enclosure 
 of bread, and flushed when it fell on his lap. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 237 
 
 But the apparent inattention to his awkwardness 
 steadied him ; and he was quick to take the cue from 
 Molly. For some reason her fingers always sought 
 the right knife and fork just a trifle earlier than did 
 those of the other diners. 
 
 Mrs. Chambers began to chat with him about him 
 self and things with which he was familiar ; and this 
 conversation, being conducted across Molly, the 
 latter was drawn into it. Jack s embarrassment 
 rapidly dissipated. By the time the roast was served 
 he had made up his mind that, next to Molly and his 
 own mother, his hostess was the loveliest woman 
 in the world. He found himself telling her many 
 things about himself and his life; she seemed to un 
 derstand him. He felt no shame of these confidences; 
 Molly s bright eyes approved. 
 
 When .Mrs. Chambers turned to Mr. Cans who, 
 tall, portly and grave, sat on her right hand, Molly 
 and Jack began to talk of what she had been doing 
 that summer. From her lips this all seemed new. 
 He also had something important to tell her, but he 
 postponed that. 
 
 He noticed that she was more subdued and formal 
 than before she went away; there was a something 
 subtle in her manner and voice which deepened her 
 fascination, yet made him a little afraid of her. But, 
 presently, Mrs. Chambers engaged Molly s attention, 
 and he became a listener to the conversation at the 
 other end of the table. Mr. Cans and Mr. Chambers 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 238 
 
 were talking politics. It was the former s favorite 
 topic. " Devlin/ he was saying, " is, in some re 
 spects, a remarkable man. I have known him per 
 sonally, in a way, for many years. He saved my son 
 from drowning when they both were boys, but he 
 made no allusion to it for some time. When the 
 occasion served he made that rescue the lever to get 
 what he wanted. It was characteristic of him. But, 
 of course, that was before I became an independ 
 ent in politics." 
 
 " Now you are at swords points? " remarked Mr. 
 Chambers. 
 
 " No, Devlin and I speak when we come across 
 each other. As a man I find him interesting. But 
 as a politician " 
 
 " Dangerous ? He will not be content, I think, to 
 stop where he is ? " 
 
 " Exactly. He intends to be the Boss. He will 
 clear the way for that sooner or later. Then will 
 come the supreme struggle." 
 
 " You fellows in the Citizens League ought to 
 gird up your loins against the day." 
 
 " We are doing all that we can. We constitute 
 practically the only opposition to him. The minor 
 ity party is a tool in his hands. It represents a hope 
 less cause in this city. Its success depends upon his 
 cooperation. When it can be useful to him, he 
 cooperates. The real struggle when it comes to a 
 head will be between the reform element and its 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 239 
 
 allies, and Devlin s forces. As I forecast the situ 
 ation it is not far off, either." 
 
 " Not in the City election this autumn ? There 
 seems to be a clear understanding on the nominations 
 for Sheriff and other officers." 
 
 " No, I was not referring to the City election. 
 That rascal Johnson whom they will put up for 
 Sheriff suits the Minority party so the opposition 
 to us will be practically solid. It is in the character 
 of Devlin s present ally Walsh that the promise of 
 a division lies. Walsh is keen and ambitious. He 
 will not always be content to be the subordinate; 
 and Devlin plans that he shall be nothing more. 
 There will be lively times when they clash. That 
 will be our chance." 
 
 "Who will win?" 
 
 Mr. Gans raised his eyebrows deprecatingly. 
 
 " I mean do you think Devlin is invincible? " 
 
 " No, but strong, and every day, as things are at 
 present, he s growing stronger. No man can say how 
 long and binding are the lines which he has out. He 
 has made the fortunes of a good many men, the mis 
 fortunes of some. He is strongest often in the 
 quarters one would least suspect. Many big corpora 
 tions are his allies perforce. He has money, and 
 is always willing to put it out in the public interest. 
 Now there s the Central Railroad " 
 
 " The Central Railroad has not been touched by 
 him, so far as I am aware," replied Mr. Chambers 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 240 
 
 quickly. " We are an old corporation. Our rights 
 were established before Devlin came into power." 
 
 " Pardon me, I intended no imputation. But 
 some day we ll see ! Devlin will make the oppor 
 tunity for you to call upon him when he needs 
 you. And you will have to accept the offer. Then 
 we shall have you defending him." 
 
 " I do not think we shall ever be involved with 
 him in that way. As for defending him, personally 
 I am often inclined to do that now. I think Devlin 
 has his share of good qualities. But they don t 
 show on the surface." 
 
 Jack wanted to thank Mr. Chambers for the 
 speech. He felt a growing dislike for the bearded 
 Gans. He would have said something himself in 
 Jimmy s defence if he had known more of poli 
 tics. 
 
 " I agree with you that Devlin is not all bad," con 
 tinued Mr. Gans. " That is why he is dangerous. 
 It is his virtues, if you can call them such, which 
 have tightened his grip. What does he command 
 to-day? The Water Trust a political machine of 
 enormous resources, corrupt with abuses; City 
 Councils for the most part at his beck and call be 
 cause its members are elected at his direction; sev 
 eral members of the State Administration who have 
 a lively remembrance of his labors in their behalf 
 at election time. That is a fairly influential list of 
 representatives, don t you think so? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 241 
 
 Mr. Chambers nodded. " Besides two United 
 States Senators," he appended. 
 
 " Corson and Mabie ? The first certainly ; of 
 Mabie s friendship for Devlin I have always had 
 my doubts. Mabie is too domineering to work long 
 in harness with Devlin. But Corson and Devlin 
 are hand-in-glove. And Corson is one of the 
 shrewdest and most unscrupulous men in public life 
 to-day. Did you know he was indirectly a backer 
 of the Union Bank?" 
 
 Jack pricked up his ears. " Yes," went on Mr. 
 Gans, " he is, though I could not prove the con 
 nection. Corson and the State Treasurer are good 
 friends for obvious reasons. So the Union Bank 
 gets well, it gets a generous share of the State 
 funds in deposits. It can get more, too, if Devlin 
 but says the word. But Devlin s a queer fellow 
 about some things. He is uncomfortably blunt in 
 speech sometimes. They say that Senator Corson 
 once took him to Washington to the White House. 
 Mr. President, said Corson, here is James Devlin, 
 who has never been known to break his word. 
 
 " Devlin bowed. Then with solemn face he said, 
 I m sorry that I can t say the same for my friend 
 Corson, Mr. President. 
 
 " Corson knew that he meant it, but he wasn t 
 offended. At any rate, to-day, when we fight Devlin 
 we have to be prepared to meet also the ranks of 
 Corson s federal patronage in this city." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 242 
 
 Mr. Chambers suddenly remembered Jack s pres 
 ence and rebuked himself for his unintentional dis 
 courtesy. He looked at Jack. The latter was re 
 garding Cans with frank dislike; he reddened when 
 he saw that he was observed. Mr. Chambers ex 
 plained to Mr. Cans, " Mr. Doran, here, is employed 
 in the Union Bank, and is a friend of Devlin s. I 
 suppose we owe him an apology for criticizing Dev 
 lin so freely." 
 
 Jack tried to say that it was all right ; but he was 
 but little appeased by Mr. Gans s rejoinder, " Why, 
 I don t think that Devlin himself would resent what 
 I said. The relations of the Bank and the State are 
 a matter of record so far as the deposits go. Do 
 you know your President personally?" he asked, 
 turning to Jack. 
 
 " Why, of course, he does. Mr. Devlin is Mr. 
 Doran s best friend. He is going to be one of my 
 friends, too, I hope," answered Molly. 
 
 Jack gave her a look of gratitude which he did 
 not try to conceal from the rest. 
 
 " So you are going into politics ? " said Mr. Gans, 
 smiling. " You will be an outspoken champion at 
 least." 
 
 " I ll stand up for those who are honest with me 
 and good to others," she retorted. 
 
 " There ! You see ! " Mr. Gans looked at his host. 
 " Quid pro quo; Devlin s own doctrine. The cardi 
 nal principle of every successful Boss." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 243 
 
 " Isn t it the principle underlying all business ? " 
 
 " Yes, but it can be abused." 
 
 " Mr. Devlin doesn t abuse it," put in Jack. " He 
 gives a great deal to people who do nothing for him." 
 
 "So? "replied Mr. Cans. 
 
 "It s true; I know it!" returned Jack a little 
 hotly. 
 
 Mrs. Chambers intervened. She rose from the 
 table. " And leave politics behind you," she warned. 
 
 When they were in the drawing-room Molly was 
 asked to sing. She went to the piano at once. She 
 had a clear, sweet soprano. Jack cast a withering 
 glance on Mr. Gans who, after the first song, re 
 marked, " Your daughter has a good voice, Mrs. 
 Chambers." "Good!" thought Jack. "What is 
 the man made off ? It is celestial ! " Yet Gans dared 
 to profane the period of a second song with a low- 
 toned conversation. 
 
 Molly left the piano, and took a seat on a sofa. 
 Mrs. Chambers joined her husband and Mr. Gans. 
 Jack went over to Molly. " Will you sing for me 
 sometime?" he asked. 
 
 " Sometime. Did you hear what Mr. Gans said? " 
 
 "Yes; it disgusted me." 
 
 " Why ? " She laughed. " He is quite a judge of 
 music." 
 
 Jack gasped. "A judge of music ! Why, he talked 
 while you were singing the second time." 
 
 " Did he? It was good of him to listen at all." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 244 
 
 There was no reply to be made to this opinion 
 coming from such a source. " Do you sing? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Not a note. I wish I did. Do you like to hear 
 other people sing? " 
 
 " Yes, some people. Now, there s Dick; he " 
 
 " Can he sing? " 
 
 " Didn t you know it ? He s got a fine baritone." 
 
 " But he s got a mustache? " said Jack insinuat 
 ingly. He awaited her identification of the criti 
 cism. 
 
 " Yes, he s got a mustache. What of it? " she re 
 turned. She looked surprised. 
 
 " Nothing," he said when his astonishment 
 would permit him to speak. How short was the 
 memory of woman! Or miserable thought! 
 perhaps, she hadn t meant it when she said she 
 thought mustaches were hideous. He wished he 
 knew. Then he realized that, after all, this was a 
 childish sort of spite. 
 
 " Do you play the piano ? " she inquired. 
 
 "No, I don t do anything." 
 
 "But you dance?" 
 
 " I never tried." 
 
 " Oh ! " She made a little round mouth. " I never 
 heard of such a thing! You ll have to learn." 
 
 " I will," he said; and he meant it, though he had 
 not thought of it seriously until that moment. 
 
 " Tom Rowell was the best dancer I knew until I 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 245 
 
 met a man at Bar Harbor this summer," she went 
 on. " He was perfectly fine." 
 
 " Tell me something more about Bar Harbor," he 
 urged. Anything to get away from Dick Gans and 
 Tom Rowell. 
 
 She entered into the proposal willingly, and he lis 
 tened. But Bar Harbor was a world almost unknown 
 to him, inhabited largely, it seemed, by men in whom 
 Molly took a deep interest. She noticed that his 
 attention wandered. " You re not a bit interested," 
 she complained. 
 
 " Yes, I am," he affirmed feebly. 
 
 " No, you aren t. I shan t tell you any more. I 
 ought to go over and talk to Mr. Gans, anyhow." 
 
 "Please don t." His alarm was so palpable that 
 she laughed. " Why not? " she asked. 
 
 " It it s so much pleasanter here where you 
 are." 
 
 " Then I ll ask the rest to come here." 
 
 " No, don t." 
 
 " But it s only polite to do it if this is the best 
 place in the room." 
 
 " It won t be when someone else comes," he de 
 clared boldly. He stole a look at her. Her eyes 
 were hidden, but she did not appear to be displeased. 
 " I want to talk to you alone," he added. He re 
 membered that he had not yet told her his impor 
 tant news. " I ve had very good luck," he an 
 nounced. " I ve got an advancement at the Bank." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 246 
 
 " That s good," she replied. " What is it? " 
 
 " I ve been made note-teller." 
 
 "Is that high up?" 
 
 Somehow, his enthusiasm cooled. It was nat 
 ural that she should ask this, yet her ignorance 
 seemed to dwarf the new position. And he had 
 built so many dreams upon it! " No, it isn t so very 
 high," he said slowly. " But it s a considerable 
 jump for a fellow who s been in the Bank so short a 
 time as I have. It s in line for promotion." 
 
 " I m very glad," she returned. 
 
 It had been his intention to explain to her the 
 relation which the various positions in the Bank 
 bore to one another, and to make plain to her that 
 advancement from the place of note-teller to that of 
 President was a mere matter of time together with 
 a dozen deaths, removals or resignations. But the 
 outlook abruptly had lost its rosy hue; the subject 
 had become prosaic. Again he realized that there 
 had been a change in Molly. She was no less an 
 ideal, but her real self had become more elusive. 
 She seemed to be at a distance from him to be an 
 idol to be worshipped humbly. He regarded her 
 with some awe. How had he ever ventured to think 
 of her as a good fellow ? 
 
 He was silent so long that she said, " What are 
 you thinking about ? " 
 
 " About you," he declared, and trembled at his 
 temerity. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 247 
 
 "What did you think about me?" She slipped 
 a small ring up and down on her finger and studied 
 it. 
 
 " I I don t know just what." It was the last 
 thing he meant to say. 
 
 "Something nice?" 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " Then tell me about it." 
 
 He wanted to, but he couldn t. A strange fear 
 was on him. She seemed so grown-up. Urged on 
 by his desires, restrained by a dread of appearing 
 ridiculous, he was trying to frame his ideas, when 
 she looked up and exclaimed, " It s stupid here ! 
 Let s go over, and talk to the rest." 
 
 " No, no. Please stay here/ he said quickly. 
 " I want to talk to you." 
 
 " Well, go on then." 
 
 " But I can t if you don t say something." 
 
 " I have. I said go on. " 
 
 " But you know what I mean," he protested. 
 " You must talk, too." 
 
 "What shall I say?" 
 
 " Anything," desperately. 
 
 " Very well then. I ll tell you a story. Once upon 
 a time there was a girl who went away in the 
 summer." 
 
 "To the Maine coast?" 
 
 " Never mind where. She had a very good time. 
 There were lots of men there. Some of them were 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 248 
 
 good looking, and a few a very few weren t so 
 good looking. They seemed to like this girl. I 
 don t know why." 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Keep quiet now. I don t know why they liked 
 this girl. I suppose, because she was fond of danc 
 ing and played tennis and paddled round in a canoe 
 and liked them the men, I mean. Yes, it must 
 have been that; for they were always asking her to 
 dance and talking to her and taking her in their 
 canoes. At least, two of them two* of the men 
 did. (Jack squirmed.) One of them was named 
 but it doesn t matter about his name. We ll call him 
 The Best Dancer Ever Was. The other man 
 was a fine canoe paddler. He came from the city 
 where the girl lived. He sang well and was tall and 
 had light hair and " 
 
 " You never told me that Mr. Gans was there," 
 muttered Jack. 
 
 " You re interrupting. It isn t polite. I was 
 going to say that this girl thought But, I guess, 
 you ve heard enough. Haven t you?" 
 
 Jack wavered. " No, go on," he said abjectly. 
 He knew that if she did not tell him, the rest of 
 his life would be a torment of doubt." 
 
 "Well, then," she went on, "the girl thought 
 that this man was very Let me see? (Jack s atten 
 tion was startling.) Very good fun. She had lots 
 of good times with him. (Jack groaned inwardly.) 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 249 
 
 And a few days after she came home, he came 
 home, too. He asked her if he might come and call 
 on her. And she said No. It was for this evening, 
 too, by the way. Now why do you suppose she 
 said he couldn t call?" 
 
 Jack, in an ecstacy, did not dare to give his own 
 explanation. The transition from dull despair had 
 paralyzed his tongue momentarily. 
 
 " I ll tell you," she said. " But you mustn t tell 
 anyone." She leaned toward him and put her mouth 
 close to his ear, so close that he fancied a loose curl 
 brushed his cheek an instant. " It was because," 
 she whispered; "because another man was coming 
 
 that evening. And she " It grew upon Jack, in 
 
 the moment in which she hesitated, that all the in-- 
 terests of life had come to a point. " And she she 
 liked this other man ever so much. His name 
 was " 
 
 "Who?" cried Jack in a voice of such dreadful 
 agitation that Mrs. Chambers looked quickly round. 
 
 Molly had straightened up. She was twirling the 
 ring on her finger. " His name was Mr. Joseph 
 Cans," she said collectedly. " And I must go over 
 and talk to him right away." 
 
 Jack collapsed. Nor did he ever know all that his 
 outcry accomplished. 
 
 One thing that it did accomplish was to bring about 
 a more definite understanding between Mr. and Mrs. 
 Chambers as to his future visits to the house. It 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 250 
 
 awoke in Mrs. Chambers s heart the same instinct 
 which had alarmed Kate when Jack first talked of 
 Molly. That evening, after their guests had gone, 
 Jack was weighed in the balance of a consultation 
 between his host and hostess. 
 
 " I have always agreed with you," said Mrs. 
 Chambers, " that we should judge people by their 
 personal worth. No one has found our doors closed 
 because of what their forefathers were, or because 
 of their social standing, or fortune. But, when it 
 comes to Molly ! " 
 
 "Molly?" Mr. Chambers repeated wonderingly. 
 There is an astigmatism in man s vision which is 
 revealed to women when he cites the evidence of his 
 eyes in an argument of this kind. So, now, when 
 Mr. Chambers protested, " Molly ? And that boy, 
 Jack Doran ? It s absurd ! " Mrs. Chambers merely 
 raised her brows, and was not dissuaded. 
 
 " Nevertheless," she returned, " this is a question 
 I want you to answer. Young Mr. Doran s mother 
 is a seamstress a good woman, I have no doubt; 
 but in birth, education, environment and ideals, very 
 different from Molly. His father, from all I have 
 learned, is unmentionable. The friend of the 
 family is J. Devlin Boss. If inheritance, sur 
 roundings and the company of his patron have any 
 influence on the boy, is he likely to be just the one for 
 our Molly?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 251 
 
 " But it s sheer nonsense to look at him in the light 
 of in that way." 
 
 " Perhaps, but give me your opinion." 
 
 Mr. Chambers was silent for a minute. Then he 
 said slowly, " If the boy himself is all right, and 
 Molly comes to to love him if that is what you 
 mean . Well, what would you say then?" 
 
 " I would say God bless them ! and do all I could 
 to make them happy," she answered earnestly. 
 
 Her husband looked straightly at her. " Where 
 did you find out all this about young Doran s par 
 ents?" 
 
 " Much of it from himself. Tom Rowell started 
 me thinking. He told me some things ; I asked him 
 about others." 
 
 " Doubtless, they are all true," replied Mr. 
 Chambers. " But let us give the boy a chance to prove 
 himself. Isn t that fair? Besides Molly is very 
 young yet." 
 
 " She has grown years older this summer. One 
 or two things she said about young Cans opened my 
 eyes. He is very attentive to her. That is another 
 reason why Molly shouldn t see too much of this Mr. 
 Doran if we are not going to approve of him 
 later on. It is for his sake as well as hers." 
 
 " Yes; that is right. But I am not ready to say 
 that I do not approve of him." 
 
 " Nor am I. We must find out all we can of his 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 252 
 
 life and ideals. And especially of the company he 
 keeps." 
 
 " Which fits well with a proposition I have to 
 make," he replied. " What would you say to asking 
 his patron Devlin here to dinner, we will say?" 
 
 Mrs. Chambers made a little grimace. " Do you 
 mean that? " 
 
 " I do. It isn t altogether an unselfish plan, I ll 
 admit. I want to meet this man; he interests me. 
 And the only way in which I can talk to him as I 
 wish is to have him here. Nor do I think he will be 
 offensive. In any event we need not ask him again, 
 if you do not wish it. But, aside from all this 
 wouldn t it afford a good chance to find out what 
 influences he brings to bear on young Doran ? I im 
 agine Devlin is the sort of man who would leave his 
 mark upon anyone who stands as close to him as 
 this boy appears to stand." 
 
 " Perhaps," said Mrs. Chambers reflectively. 
 " But a political Boss ! What will they say of us 
 after this? " 
 
 " Do you care if we are satisfied ? " Mr. Cham 
 bers knew that the day was won. 
 
 " No, but well, the cultivation of incongruities, 
 as they are called, seems to be our bent. So let us 
 have J. Devlin Boss if he will come." 
 
 " He will come, I think," returned Mr. Chambers. 
 " I have an idea that his watch over that boy takes 
 a form not unlike our watch over Molly. Preposter- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 253 
 
 ous as it may sound, he may be as anxious to take the 
 measure of Jack Doran s new friends as we are to 
 find out about Molly s." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " sighed Mrs. Chambers in comic de 
 spair. " You will be attributing the graces of a 
 Bayard to him next." 
 
 " Let us judge of that for ourselves," concluded 
 her husband, laughing. 
 
 On Jack s next visit Mr. Chambers broached the 
 subject of inviting Jimmy to dine with them. " In 
 formally, of course," he added. " If you will come 
 with him our party will be complete." 
 
 Jack made his delight very plain. He was prouder 
 of Jimmy than any one knew. In the first flush it did 
 not occur to him that Jimmy might not shine here 
 as elsewhere. When a doubt did flash upon him his 
 face clouded. " I ll ask him," he said. " I hope 
 he can come." 
 
 " But he must come," insisted Molly. 
 
 " He s so busy, you see," began Jack apologeti 
 cally. It was the first excuse that suggested it 
 self. 
 
 " He is coming," announced Molly. A sparkling 
 look told him that she had some plan. As he was 
 about to leave that evening she put an envelope into 
 his hand. " It s my invitation," she said. " Give it 
 to Jimmy. Don t you dare look at it." 
 
 But when Jack delivered Mr. Chambers s message, 
 Jimmy looked grave. He told Jack to thank Mr. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 254 
 
 Chambers. He could not accept his invitation just 
 then; he was too busy. 
 
 " But here s a note for you/ said Jack. " Read 
 that first." 
 
 Jimmy read the note with twinkling eyes. He 
 handed it to Jack who read it. It was as follows : 
 
 " DEAR MR. DEVLIN : 
 
 " I want you to see what an honored place you 
 have in my autograph collection. So you must ac 
 cept my Uncle s invitation. Be ready to tell me all 
 about politics and how it feels to be a Boss. I shall 
 expect you. 
 
 " Yours sincerely 
 
 " MOLLY STRUTHERS." 
 
 Jimmy had been watching Jack s face. Something 
 he saw there brought a light into his own such as 
 only Kate had seen. It was the same look which 
 had softened his mouth and suffused his eyes when 
 he leaned over Jack, then a baby in his crib. 
 
 So, now, when Jack raised his eyes, and begged, 
 " Jimmy, you will go, won t you ? I want you to 
 meet Miss Struthers," Jimmy said slowly, " Yes, I 
 guess I ll have to, after all. But it can t be till after 
 election. I ve got more to do than I can get through 
 with at nights. You tell Mr. Chambers that I ll be 
 glad to come then if th invitation holds good. 
 And tell Miss Struthers for me that I ll find out all 
 I can meanwhile about Bosses to tell her." 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 255 
 
 C 4 "|~ SEE that Walsh has got what he was itching 
 for." The speaker was Senator Corson. 
 He sat at a table in his usual hotel room; 
 beside him was Jimmy. It was a week after the last 
 of the autumn primary elections had been held. 
 
 " Yes/ said Jimmy. " He got th nomination 
 for Sheriff. A nice rumpus it s stirred up. It s 
 come out, so far, just as I told him it would." 
 
 The Senator was regarding Jimmy closely. " As 
 you told him? " he said. " Then you couldn t per 
 suade Johnson to withdraw." 
 
 You see for yourself. Johnson was stubborn. 
 Th fact is he had been promised th place. Th mi 
 nority party had agreed to support him, if he needed 
 it. So he got his back up when I told him that we d 
 have to give Walsh th party nomination. He said 
 he was in th fight to stay Walsh or no Walsh. He 
 had a good card to play, too. Th minority party had 
 all lines out for him, and he was a stronger man 
 than they could find in their own crowd. So they 
 agreed to stick by him when I when Walsh came 
 into th field. Th result is there s two tickets in th 
 race, besides that of th Reformers ; Johnson with a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 256 
 
 big personal backing and th minority organization, 
 and and Walsh." 
 
 The Senator s eyelids fluttered " And you back 
 of Walsh? " he said quietly. 
 
 " I m back of th nominee of my own people, of 
 course," answered Jimmy without flinching. " But 
 you understand what we re in for," he went on. 
 " And at th worst time, too with a National elec 
 tion that ll keep us all on th jump only a year away." 
 
 f< Things 11 quiet down locally by then," said the 
 Senator. This time his eyelids dropped. But Jimmy 
 kept his eyes on the other s face. " Maybe," he said. 
 " But there s goin to be th biggest kind of a row 
 first." 
 
 " So ? " The lowered eyelids were raised and 
 dropped again. Jimmy s glance was unwavering. 
 The fox watched the fox, each in his own way. 
 " Personally," Jimmy said, " I m afraid Walsh is 
 goin to have a hard fight to get in." 
 
 The Senatorial tongue clacked. Jimmy apparently 
 heard it not. " You know, I m as cautious as Walsh 
 is sometimes cock-sure," he explained. " So, when 
 he says I ll be elected without turning a hair/ I say, 
 you ll have a pile of scratching to do to get in at 
 all. " 
 
 " A purely personal opinion ? " 
 
 " Entirely so." 
 
 For a minute there was silence. The Senator 
 pursed his lips. " Well, I hope Walsh won t be 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 257 
 
 disappointed," he remarked. A sidelong glance un 
 der his lids met Jimmy s vacant look half way. With 
 that the subject of Walsh s chances was dropped. 
 
 Presently, the Senator hoisted himself in his chair 
 by his elbows, and gave an introductory cough. 
 " The State Treasury receipts have been heavy 
 lately/ he observed. 
 
 "Have they?" 
 
 " Yes, and, of course, a part of them has to be 
 banked." 
 
 Jimmy s head was inclined, and the Senator went 
 on reflectively, as if the -topic was one of casual 
 interest, " What s the balance of the State in the 
 Union Bank roughly, I mean? " 
 
 Jimmy named it in round figures. The Senator 
 caught his lip between his teeth. " I thought it was 
 larger," he commented. " I understand they think 
 of increasing it." 
 
 " I hadn t heard of it." 
 " It s so. What do you think of it? " 
 
 "What do you?" 
 I should say take the money, if it s offered." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Speaking as a friend? " 
 
 Jimmy smiled. " No, in the public interest." 
 
 " I should advise taking it because the Union 
 Bank is a safe institution and " 
 
 Jimmy waited with an aspect of patience, but 
 chafed at this polite and meaningless preamble. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 258 
 
 " And because," the Senator went on, after consider 
 ing his words, " We want you to stand as well be 
 fore the people of this city as is possible. A weak 
 ness in the Bank might be ammunition for the oppo 
 sition. As you said a while ago, we ll need all of our 
 strength in the National election next November." 
 
 " At th State Convention for representatives to 
 the National Convention, you mean," amended 
 Jimmy. " That s th nut to be cracked. And Mabie 
 wants th kernel." It was an exposure of the Sena 
 tor s motives which forced a thin smile to his mouth. 
 " But," continued Jimmy, and his voice uncon 
 sciously grew proud, " As to th Union Bank you 
 need have no fears. You know, that I stand behind 
 that institution in person. It doesn t have to rely on 
 State deposits." 
 
 " But it won t refuse them," added the Senator, 
 " Every bank of repute wants the deposits, and some 
 of them get them. You can t mean that you want 
 the State s account at the Union Bank withdrawn? " 
 
 " No. What I do want is to know what is ex 
 pected in return for th increase of those deposits." 
 
 The Senator raised his eyelids with an upward 
 toss of his head. He laid one hand on the table, 
 open, then shut the fingers slowly. The action was 
 full of suggestion. " To help close up the lines of 
 the party in this State tight," he said in a high, 
 penetrating voice. " There s been differences between 
 us Senator Mabie and you. We don t want any 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 259 
 
 more of them. Devlin, we know that you are the 
 man to be reckoned with here, and nobody else., 
 Walsh and Showell ? Well, we ll say nothing of 
 them now. The point is you and the Senator and 
 myself can t afford to split on anything in politics." 
 
 Jimmy s face was bland. Not by so much as a 
 quiver of a muscle did he indicate how this intelli 
 gence affected him. He replied quietly, " I can see 
 nothing that we re likely to differ on now. When 
 you come up for reelection I shall support you as 
 matters stand. But as for pledging my word to 
 shut my mouth and play a thinking part when 
 well, say just for instance, when it comes to instruct 
 ing representatives to a convention of any kind I 
 won t do it." 
 
 " I didn t expect you to," the Senator returned, 
 but his voice said that he was disappointed. 
 Then, more spiritedly, " You ll always have the right 
 to talk up. All we want is to have the majority rule. 
 It s the first principle of our government," he con 
 cluded with sarcastic levity. 
 
 " It s th principle / go on," Jimmy answered 
 quickly. " I m ready to do what th majority wants 
 every time. But it s got to be proved to me in 
 black and white that it is a majority th majority 
 that I m answerable to." 
 
 " Just so. Nothing 11 be asked of you but what a 
 majority demands. But we needn t get worked up 
 over this. I knew you wouldn t take those additional 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 260 
 
 State deposits without an explanation. And that s 
 the whole story." 
 
 The conversation which followed was in the same 
 key ; it ended in a tacit understanding that the Union 
 Bank would take the funds in question. The Sena 
 tor left town the same day; Jimmy went back to 
 work on problems which, just then, were of more 
 moment to him than his relations with the two 
 gentlemen who sat for his State in the Senate at 
 Washington. 
 
 Politics in the city were in a condition of uncer 
 tainty which made the wisest shake their heads. The 
 Citizens League and every voter who pinned his 
 faith on political reform, for the first time in many 
 years, had reasonable hope as the basis for his ex 
 pressions of confidence. 
 
 Walsh s defeat was prophesied by these as the first 
 step in the downfall of the Three Czars and especially 
 the ruin of Jimmy. And Jimmy smiled at this, yet 
 kept his ears wide open. For, whatever his opinion 
 on this specific case, he understood that there were 
 many who looked for the millennium when his fall 
 should be accomplished, and a good many who fixed 
 an early date for it and prepared against the day. 
 
 They complained of his control of politics, of his 
 growing domination of the municipal service and his 
 autocratic behavior. They foresaw his purposes 
 better than did Walsh and some others, Jimmy told 
 himself. For that reason he gave a great deal of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 261 
 
 quiet attention to the prospective remoVal or their 
 complaints, though, apparently he had no intention 
 of yielding an inch to the men who made them. He 
 saw his goal straight ahead of him, and made for it. 
 
 Joseph Gans, honest and intelligent, he respected, 
 but did not allow to disturb him. Most important, 
 at the present hour, was the dilemma in which Walsh 
 had placed him. If Jimmy had told all that he knew 
 of the possibilities of the situation forced upon 
 him by Walsh, many things might have happened 
 differently. 
 
 Walsh, with a ten thousand dollar office almost in 
 his fingers, was busy with his canvassing and self- 
 congratulation. Showell, who had an understanding 
 with Walsh as to certain privileges which would be 
 within the latter s gift as Sheriff, was wholly occu 
 pied with the latter s campaign. Election night 
 came to read them both a lesson in the industry of 
 the mole. 
 
 On that evening Walsh was in the American 
 Club, whose political sympathies he had long swayed 
 and whose President he was. In a back room he was 
 reading the returns from the polling places and talk 
 ing with some friends when Showell came in, 
 breathing stertorously from that corner of his mouth 
 which was not occupied with the perpetually revol- 
 ing cigar. 
 
 Walsh looked at him with vague alarm. Show- 
 ell s face was perspiring and red, and his big, droop- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 262 
 
 ing mustaches made him resemble a walrus more 
 than ever. His little eyes were snapping with ex 
 citement. He plucked Walsh by the sleeve, and 
 nodded toward a corner of the room. 
 
 Walsh followed him. " What s th matter? " he 
 asked the moment they were out of hearing of the 
 crowd. 
 
 " Matter enough ! " answered Showell, thumping 
 one palm with a fist like a ham. " Matter enough ! 
 Th fat s in th fire. Jimmy s turned you down ! " 
 
 " Jimmy turned me down ? " repeated Walsh in 
 credulously. 
 
 " That s what I said. He s turnin in th whole 
 Water Works gang at th polls for Johnson, an he s 
 doin it at th very last, so we can t do anything. 
 We can t stop him. Johnson 11 be elected. Y re a 
 dead rabbit, Ed ! He s done for you ! " 
 
 " I don t believe it? " exclaimed Walsh. " Why, 
 he told me he told me I should have th nomination. 
 Jimmy himself gave me his word that that " 
 He halted, suddenly, the exact words of Jimmy s 
 promise recurring to him. 
 
 " Yes, I know he promised y th nomination, and 
 y got it. But this is th election an he s put th 
 knife in y ," Showell said. "He lied t you he 
 lied t you an t me." In a fury, he burst into 
 expletives. 
 
 But Walsh was of a different make. His face 
 had grown very white; behind his glasses his cold 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 263 
 
 eyes narrowed; his thin lips set themselves tightly. 
 He was sure that Showell had forecasted his fate. 
 He did not need the verdict of the last returns from 
 the polling places to tell him the facts. He under 
 stood some things now which before had not seemed 
 worthy of attention; and these incidents all pointed 
 the same way. He felt the bitterness of a defeat 
 that was totally unexpected. But this bitterness was 
 too deep to be relieved by curses. 
 
 " No/ he said to Showell. " No, Jimmy didn t 
 lie to me to us. Jimmy never lies. But he tricked 
 us ! He played us like a couple of fools ! " 
 
 "What did he do it for?" asked Showell, who 
 took in suddenly presented truths slowly. " What 
 did he do it for?" 
 
 Walsh had taken off his glasses, and was delib 
 erately polishing them with a spotless handkerchief. 
 His face was as hard as steel. He replied to Showell 
 slowly. 
 
 " What did he do it for ? Jimmy did it because 
 he thinks one boss is better than three. He means 
 to be that one." 
 
 Then, after a moment s pause, " But he isn t that 
 boss yet. He s got some years to live, and so have 
 I. Wait and see!" 
 
CHAPTER XIV 264 
 
 "11 JT R. DEVLIN, I am glad to meet you and 
 V/ I have you here." 
 
 " I am glad to be here, Mr. Cham 
 bers/ 
 
 That was all there was to it. Jack who looked on 
 with proud eyes was freed from any lingering doubt 
 as to how Jimmy would conduct himself in this new 
 world. Mr. Chambers s welcome had been received 
 as unconcernedly as it had been proffered unaffect 
 edly. It was the meeting of two men who had more 
 in instinct, and ideals than either of them suspected. 
 The time was early one evening in the December 
 following the City elections. 
 
 Mr. Chambers led the way to the library, where 
 they found Mrs. Chambers and Molly; and Jack, for 
 once, was satisfied to stand aside and see Molly give 
 all of her attention to another man. It made him 
 happy to watch the faces of his two friends as they 
 talked. He was almost a silent member of the little 
 circle which had Jimmy for its center until dinner 
 was announced. Then, to his delighted surprise he 
 saw Jimmy offer his arm to his hostess as if he had 
 been doing the thing all of his life. Nor was Mrs. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 265 
 
 Chambers s surprise any the less. These on 
 lookers forgot that Jimmy had not associated for 
 twenty odd years with political leaders and the bruis 
 ers of ward politics only. Nor did it occur to them, 
 perhaps, that it was this adaptability -mayhap, no 
 more than the imitative faculty cultivated for specific 
 purposes, yet cultivated until it had become second 
 nature which among other qualities enabled " J. 
 Devlin Boss " to hold his own with men of divers 
 kinds. 
 
 At the table Jack was seated next to Molly. 
 Jimmy was placed between his host and hostess. 
 Here again those marveled who regarded him with 
 eyes of pride or covert curiosity. The mystery of 
 many forks and napkin-enclosed bread was no mys 
 tery to one who had attended more banquets than 
 any of his companions at the table. As for the for 
 mality consequent upon the brief acquaintance of 
 guest and entertainers that soon wore off under the 
 merry fire of Molly s questions, Mrs. Chambers s 
 gentle tact and Mr. Chambers s hearty interest. So 
 they were all talking easily, and Jack was willing 
 to be largely a listener. The last trace of restraint 
 disappeared when Jimmy told a story of his early life 
 in answer to Molly s query. Jack found himself in 
 cluded in the story, and complained, " Why, you 
 never told me that? " 
 
 " There are many things Mr. Devlin hasn t told 
 you that he s going to tell me," Molly returned. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 266 
 
 " You will tell me all the secrets about Mr. Doran, 
 won t you, Mr. Devlin ? " 
 
 " Yes, I will; but they mustn t go any further," 
 answered Jimmy. " If you told them I d get into 
 serious trouble with Jack s mother." 
 
 " You do well to keep on the side of the mothers," 
 put in Mrs. Chambers. " They are very jealous 
 creatures." 
 
 " Yes," said Jimmy. " But they re th ones we 
 have to look to for most of what s good." 
 
 " So you are a champion of women ? " 
 
 " I don t know much about them." Then, confi 
 dentially, " Th truth is I m afraid of em. But I 
 don t let that out generally." 
 
 " But you defend them," said Mrs. Chambers, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Not exactly. If I speak well of them it s to sort 
 of pacify em." 
 
 " Then you think they can hold their own with 
 the men ? " 
 
 " More than hold their own, more than hold their 
 own," affirmed Jimmy solemnly. " It s simply a 
 question of their wanting a thing. When they do, 
 they get it. When they come after me up go my 
 hands, if I can t run away." 
 
 " At this rate we shall have you pushing a bill for 
 Woman s Rights, if you go to the Legislature," de 
 clared Mr. Chambers. 
 
 "No, said Jimmy; "I would n t do that. I 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 267 
 
 want to stick in politics a while longer. But/ ear 
 nestly, " I would like to see a bill passed giving every 
 woman in this State a hand in the management of 
 th public schools. The women could do a great 
 deal more for the schools than most of th men do." 
 
 " My own idea," agreed Mrs. Chambers. " But 
 I didn t look for such an opinion from any one in 
 politics." 
 
 " Politicians all have had mothers, and some of 
 them remember them long after they ve forgotten 
 most everything else," replied Jimmy. He checked 
 himself sharply. " But I m talking a lot about 
 women, ain t I? It must make you laugh." 
 
 " No, it doesn t make me laugh," said Mrs. Cham 
 bers quietly. She was looking at him with new in 
 terest. 
 
 " And you can t say too many nice things about 
 the women, either," added Molly. " I m awfully 
 glad you think so much of them. I ve changed my 
 mind about Bosses." 
 
 " Why, what did you think of Bosses ? " inter 
 rogated Jimmy. 
 
 " That s one of my secrets. But it didn t seem to 
 me that they could be like other men." 
 
 " Yes, th same old fools," said Jimmy, wagging 
 his head despairingly. " But, after all, why shouldn t 
 they be just th same as other men; they were all 
 boys once upon a time. Perhaps, you know a boy 
 now that 11 be a Boss some day." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 268 
 
 "Not Mr. Doran?" 
 
 " No, not Jack. He ll never go into politics, if I 
 can keep him out." 
 
 Mrs. Chambers caught the determined note in his 
 voice. " But why not? " she asked. ce You wouldn t 
 change, would you? " 
 
 " No, I wouldn t change. I couldn t now, if I 
 would, I guess. I ve got to stick to it to th end. But 
 Jack didn t start in at it, and you know he is dif 
 ferent from me in plenty of ways." His eyes rested 
 on Jack as he spoke, and his hostess did not mis 
 understand the look. Her heart warmed to him. 
 
 " You re fond of young people, aren t you ? " she 
 said. 
 
 " Yes, I am. They re well, I like em." 
 
 " When you were a boy, did you ever think of 
 being a Boss ? " asked Molly. 
 
 Jimmy s face wrinkled. " That s long ago," he 
 answered. " But, maybe, I did. Anyway, I hadn t 
 much of a chance to choose. I was pitched into 
 politics head-first. But I liked it, and I like it still a 
 good bit. I ve gotten along in it so so, perhaps, 
 because, I took such a shine to it. But all boys ain t 
 alike. A little rough handling does em all good, 
 is my notion; but with some of em you got to be 
 careful; they ain t able to last it out, and lose their 
 grip." 
 
 " It is a rough school, of course," remarked Mr. 
 Chambers. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 269 
 
 " Rougher than anybody not in it knows. Some 
 people say it don t have to be so; but that s got to 
 be proved yet." 
 
 "It makes men, though?" observed Mr. Cham 
 bers tentatively, and waited for a reply which he 
 much wanted to hear. 
 
 But Jimmy only echoed the words, " Yes, it makes 
 men." He spoke with a dryness that did not escape 
 his listeners ; he turned to his plate, as if he had said 
 it all. 
 
 " And a good many strong men ? " persisted his 
 host. 
 
 " Strong men, and some that ain t so strong," 
 said Jimmy in the same dry tones. His mouth tight 
 ened; he showed his reluctance to pursue the subject. 
 
 Molly had been trying to frame a question for 
 some time. In her eagerness she put it rather boldly. 
 "Aren t lots of them honest, Mr. Devlin?" She 
 spoke as if some one had declared to the contrary, 
 and Jimmy looked at her quickly, a grim smile on his 
 lips. 
 
 " Yes," he replied challengingly. " Many of them 
 are honest. Some that don t get th credit for it, and 
 some that get more credit than their capital war 
 rants." He saw the puzzled expression on her 
 face at the last words, and explained, " I mean that 
 some politicians, because they talk a lot about bein 
 straight and all that, are expected to be honester than 
 th people that are trusting them. They re expected 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 270 
 
 to be honester than th law calls for. Now, that 
 ain t fair. Th laws are there for everybody; th busi 
 ness man don t worry a bit about what he does so 
 long as he keeps within th laws. He d make a great 
 row if anybody said he hadn t any right to th money 
 he made by squeezing some little fellow out of trade 
 in the same line, or by cornering th market for 
 his goods and making you pay big prices, or by 
 giving some woman ten cents for sewing a garment 
 that he sells for ten dollars. He d say that was 
 trade or something of that kind, and it was all 
 right. But th politician is expected to live on air, 
 I guess. And th fellows that haven t done a stroke 
 toward finding a good man for an office call him all 
 sorts of names if th man picked out ain t an angel 
 in disguise. They want their office-holders ready- 
 made ; they want em to know just how to run a place 
 without ever having been in politics. I wonder 
 what th head of some big business establishment 
 would say if a fellow that hadn t had a day s experi 
 ence should come to him, and ask for one of his best 
 positions? He " 
 
 Jimmy suddenly realized that he had been speak 
 ing uninterruptedly and to an audience of four intent 
 listeners for a long time. He laughed awkwardly, 
 and began to apologize. But Mr. Chambers asked 
 him to go on. " You ve been hitting hard," he said; 
 " but you ve hit some nails right on the head." 
 
 Molly begged him to go on also; but Jimmy was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 271 
 
 firm. " I guess what we politicians are doin is try 
 ing to get all that we can without getting brought 
 into court," was his final response. It was said with 
 a grim appreciation of fact rather than in a tone of 
 contrition or even self -accusation, and Mrs. Cham 
 bers looked a little shocked. 
 
 Jack felt that Jimmy was on the defensive, and 
 that he ought to come to his rescue. " I heard one 
 of the Directors at the Bank say," he declared ; " that 
 you spent two dollars in helping other people for 
 every dollar you spent on yourself." 
 
 The moment that he uttered this Jack knew that 
 he had made a blunder. Jimmy grew a dull red and 
 shot his disapproval in a glance at the speaker. Mrs. 
 Chambers did not disguise her surprise. But Molly 
 saved the day. " I knew it! I just knew it when I 
 got that note of yours ! " she cried. " That s the 
 reason you told me not to trust Mr. Doran. You 
 knew he d give away secrets." 
 
 They all laughed. The moment of strain was past. 
 Mrs. Chambers began to talk to Jimmy about the 
 work of a certain mission among the children of the 
 slums. It took but a few minutes for her to discover 
 that he knew many things about this mission and its 
 labors which she did not. Incidentally, she surprised 
 him into a halting confession that he had been in 
 terested in similar work in two wards down-town 
 before the mission came into existence. But, when 
 she grew curious as to where the funds came from 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 272 
 
 to carry on the work whose origin he referred to 
 indefinitely, all her strategy was baffled. He sud 
 denly began to relate the story of a family of Irish 
 children a story which made his hearers laugh and 
 then brush their eyes. 
 
 The coffee was served in the library; Jimmy with 
 plain satisfaction lighted the cigar which his host 
 gave him. " You like a cigar? " said Mr. Chambers. 
 
 " A good one like this, very much. Tobacco 
 and music are what I enjoy most," he replied. 
 
 " Music ! " said Molly. " Do you ever go to 
 Grand Opera?" 
 
 And then Mrs. Chambers was astonished as she 
 had seldom been. " Whenever I can," he answered. 
 It isn t often that I get th chance to go; for they 
 usually find something for me to do down our way 
 nights. But, now and then, I get th chance to see 
 what they call Grand Opera, and I take a seat in th 
 family circle. But it s a toss-up with me between 
 Grand Opera and a good darkey song. Anything 
 that s played or sung th way it ought to be." 
 
 Molly yielded to Jack s urgings. " It s very dif 
 ferent from Grand Opera, but I ll sing for you, if 
 you d like," she said to Jimmy. 
 
 " Will you ? I wish you would," he said. 
 
 She chose a song which had what he de 
 scribed as "tune;" and he seemed to enjoy it. 
 Then she played one of Mendelssohn s Songs With 
 out Words, because it was a favorite of hers. When 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 273 
 
 she turned on the piano stool as the last note died 
 away, she saw that he was gazing into the fire, his 
 face smoothed of all its lines. 
 
 He became aware of the silence and that they 
 were looking at him. He gave a little start of em 
 barrassment. But he said nothing, and began to 
 pull vigorously on his cigar. It was out. Mr. 
 Chambers proffered him a match, and he struck 
 it and lighted his cigar still without speaking. Then, 
 " Thank you," he said to Molly in a low voice. He 
 made no comment on her singing or playing. 
 
 Presently, Mr. Chambers said, " I suppose you 
 will be very busy from now on until next 
 November ? " 
 
 " Yes, there s a great deal to do in a Presidential 
 year, always." 
 
 " And more than usual this year on account of the 
 fight that will be made if Grant s name comes up ? " 
 
 " Grant will not be " he began decisively, and 
 finished, " will not be th only man to figure in th 
 Convention." 
 
 " General Grant! " said Molly. " Why, of course, 
 he will be elected President." 
 
 " What makes you think Grant will be elected? " 
 asked Jimmy quietly. 
 
 " Because he s been a President before, and knows 
 how to be one," declared Molly, as if that settled 
 it. 
 
 Jimmy smiled at this unconscious citation of his 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 274 
 
 own argument. "There s something in that?" he 
 returned. " But, do you know, that is just th reason 
 why, in this case, a good many people don t want 
 him for President ? " 
 
 " I never heard such nonsense," she scoffed. 
 
 Mr. Chambers explained. " You see, Molly, this 
 is a great country for changes. We don t care to 
 have one man on top too long. Some people tljink 
 it s too much like having a King over them. Now, 
 General Grant has been President twice, and that is 
 twice as long as most men have held the place. So a 
 large number of our voters seem to be bitterly 
 opposed to having him considered again as a candi 
 date. But Senator Mabie is not one of them, I 
 hear/ he added, winking at Jimmy. 
 
 " I d vote for Grant," asserted Molly. " He was 
 our greatest general." 
 
 " That is a sufficient argument for many persons, 
 isn t it? " Mr. Chambers s remark was addressed to 
 Jimmy. 
 
 The latter nodded. " Yes, but well, we shall see 
 what we shall see," he replied sagely. 
 
 " Are you against General Grant ? " asked Mrs. 
 Chambers. 
 
 " That s not fair," her husband interposed. " We 
 mustn t catechise Mr. Devlin while he s our guest. 
 Remember, his views are not to be made public pre 
 maturely." 
 
 Jimmy was smiling. He addressed himself to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 275 
 
 Mrs. Chambers. " I couldn t answer your question 
 right now, in any event," he said. " If I did I might 
 have to go back on myself later on. I know that it 
 isn t th general opinion, but it s so just th same. A 
 politician like myself, we ll say hasn t any ideas 
 of his own on these things at th start. If he has, 
 he ought to keep em quiet until he sees what th 
 people he stands for think about th thing. Then he 
 can speak out. If they think th way he thought th 
 way he tried to make em think, perhaps, on th quiet 
 all th better. If they don t, then th best thing he 
 can do is to decide he didn t know his own mind 
 at th start. For if he keeps buckin against em 
 doing th things they don t want his name is likely 
 to be Dennis Mud." 
 
 " That s funny," remarked Mrs. Chambers, " I 
 can t say that I see much bossing in that." 
 
 " It s one of th secrets of being a boss," answered 
 Jimmy impressively, but his twinkling eyes made 
 them doubt if he was entirely in earnest. 
 
 "Who is Dennis Mud?" whispered Molly to 
 Jack. 
 
 " He was an old friend of Jimmy s," said Jack 
 gravely. 
 
 " Tell me about your friend, Dennis Mud," said 
 Molly. 
 
 Jimmy saw the joke. " All right," he responded 
 promptly, " I will. Dennis was an Irishman whose 
 real name was Patrick Govern. He was very fond 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 276 
 
 of a drop when he couldn t get a bottle. One 
 night he was at a christening, and, when morning 
 came, he found himself in a strange part of tlr city, 
 wandering th streets with such a tight head that, to 
 save him, he could get but one idea out of it, and 
 that was th name of th baby that had been chris 
 tened Dennis. But his spirits were first rate. So, 
 when a policeman came along and told him to move 
 on, he said he d think about it. Then th policeman 
 took him by th collar to help him think, I guess; 
 and, with that, Pat got mad. He knocked th police 
 man down, and sat on th curb to think it over. But 
 th policeman got another officer, and, between them, 
 they began to hustle Pat along. Then Pat woke up 
 in earnest; and they had a big scrimmage. Pat 
 thought they ought to go down th street ; th police 
 men thought they ought to go up. Th majority was 
 for going up th street, so up they went, th whole lot 
 of them falling and rolling in th gutter, now and 
 then. In the end they landed in th Magistrate s. 
 Th Magistrate asked Pat his name. Pat was a 
 sight, all plastered with mud. But, for all th knocks 
 he had got, th only name that came to him was 
 th baby s. So he answered, promptly enough, 
 Dinnis, y r Honor/ 
 
 " Dennis what ? demanded th Magistrate. 
 
 " But it was Dinnis, or nothing with Pat, so he 
 repeated Dinnis, and mumbled something else 
 which nobody understood. 
 
J DEVLIN BOSS 277 
 
 " Dennis what ? again said th Magistrate. 
 
 " Mud, suggested one of th bystanders, with an 
 eye on Pat s gutter decorations. 
 
 " Dennis Mud, eh ? repeated th Magistrate. 
 Is that your name ? staring at Pat. 
 
 " Pat nodded cheerfully. 
 
 " All right/ said th Magistrate. It s ten days 
 in jail, then, for getting drunk, Dennis; and it s ten 
 days more by token of your last name. 
 
 " And that s what Dennis Mud got for being of 
 a different opinion from th majority." 
 
 " I was sure there was a story," declared Molly, 
 when the laugh had subsided. Jack made no com 
 ment. Jimmy was smoking his cigar compla 
 cently. 
 
 "Are there stories like that back of many public 
 characters?" asked Mrs. Chambers. 
 
 " Back of some, I guess," replied Jimmy with 
 serious countenance. 
 
 " Tell some more," urged Molly. 
 
 " Mention some man, and I may be able to." 
 
 " I don t know any public men except you." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you do. There s Dennis." 1 
 
 She made a little mouth of reproach. " But, 
 really, I wish I did know some of those men. As 
 it is I don t know even where to look for them." 
 
 " A good place to look for them," returned Jimmy, 
 half in earnest ; " would be th National Convention 
 of th party at Chicago next June." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 278 
 
 Molly turned a radiant face on her Uncle. " You 
 must do it," she cried. " It s the very best idea 
 in the world. You must make up a party, and take 
 them in your car to Chicago. We ll go to the Con 
 vention, and see all the big men. But would they let 
 us in ? " she asked of Jimmy. 
 
 " I guess I could get tickets for you if Mr. Cham 
 bers decided to take you." Jimmy s face reflected 
 some of her enthusiasm; her impetuosity captured 
 him. " And I ll point out Dennis Mud to you if 
 he s there," he added. 
 
 " We ll see," temporized Mr. Chambers. " Per 
 haps, it could be managed. But we ve got some 
 months to get ready for it." 
 
 " Well, we re going," said Molly with an air of 
 conviction that came of an accurate knowledge of 
 her Uncle s indulgence and of the sway of her own 
 coaxing tyranny. 
 
 " Wouldn t it be splendid? " she confided to Jack. 
 
 " Y-e-s," he answered. His unspoken criticism 
 upon the proposetl excursion was that it would take 
 her out of town where he could not see her. 
 
 She detected his hesitation. " Why, I should 
 think you d enjoy it as much as anybody," she ex 
 claimed. " Wouldn t you like to see the Conven 
 tion?" 
 
 "Me? Would /be along?" 
 
 " Of course," Then, determined that he should 
 appreciate the proposed honor, " Yes, I guess you 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 279 
 
 would, and I don t know whether I d ask Dick and 
 Tom to go, or only one of them." 
 
 " Both of them. At least, I would ask them both," 
 returned Jack. He was improving. 
 
 " I haven t made my party up yet," she retorted. 
 " Besides, I suppose, the Convention would come at 
 the wrong time for you. You told me you were al 
 ways very busy in the Bank about June." 
 
 "Y-e-s, but maybe Jimmy could arrange it so 
 that I could go." 
 
 "Perhaps," she agreed reluctantly. " I am sure 
 that either Dick or Tom will manage to go, no 
 matter what happens, if they re asked." 
 
 " Well, if Tom can, I can." 
 
 " Well, if he can t and you can t, I tell you what 
 I ll do. I ll describe to you all that I saw and tell 
 you what Dick and I did when we come back. 
 And I ll make Dick remember all that he sees, too." 
 
 Jack made up his mind that he would go to that 
 Convention if he rode to Chicago on the brake-beam 
 of Molly s car. 
 
 Mr. Chambers was inquiring what the feeling was 
 generally with regard to the proposed candidacy of 
 Grant for the Presidential nomination. " I suppose, 
 Senator Mabie and Senator Cordon will move 
 heaven and earth to have him nominated," he re 
 marked. 
 
 " So they say," concurred Jimmy. 
 
 " Corson is a great, power," went on Mr. Cham- 
 
J DEVLIN BOSS 280 
 
 bers, reflectively; he had in mind Joseph Gans s 
 condemnation of the Senator. " I don t think many 
 men in public life are so freely denounced as he. But 
 he stands up under it all right. He must be a born 
 leader and schemer." 
 
 "He is," returned Jimmy; and, after a moment, 
 smiling, continued, " They tell a story of him that 
 is to th point. When he was six years old his 
 father, who was a clergyman, one day brought home 
 a toy sword and a Bible. He thought it was a good 
 chance to discover what th boy s leanings were. So 
 he showed both th sword and th Bible to him, and 
 said he might have his choice. Whichever he didn t 
 take his sister, who was a few years older, was to 
 have. Young Corson, they say, looked at both th 
 sword and th Bible, reached out his hand toward th 
 sword, then said he d choose th Bible. His father 
 was delighted, though he was surprised, too; for 
 th boy was all th time playing soldier. It wasn t 
 till his sister laughed at th idea of her taking a 
 sword that th old gentleman concluded that his son 
 knew a good deal for a boy of six." 
 
 " Some of the Senator s biographers made up that 
 story, didn t they? " laughed Mrs. Chambers. 
 
 " I don t know," said Jimmy. " TV Senator cer 
 tainly started in early to show what he was made of. 
 He s as full of ideas as a monkey of tricks. That 
 reminds me of another story of him. When he 
 was about twelve years old he was sitting in church 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 281 
 
 one day, and his father, th pastor, didn t arrive on 
 time. Th minutes went by, and th people began to 
 get restless and look round. Then, all at once, young 
 Corson got up, walked slowly to th pulpit, and be 
 gan to turn over th leaves of th big Bible there. 
 Every once and a while he d look at th church calen 
 dar and order of service, and put a marker in th 
 book. People stared at him, but they all supposed 
 he d been told to do it. Nobody caught on till th 
 old gentleman came in, and looked so stern and 
 surprised. Then there was a good bit of quiet 
 laughing. But young Corson didn t mind that. He 
 walked back to his seat, solemn as an owl. He felt 
 responsible for th old gentleman making them all 
 wait, and he felt he d done what he could to keep 
 them interested and fill in th time." 
 
 " You will have to make up that party for the 
 Convention and take me with you," said Mrs. Cham 
 bers to her husband. " I want to see this Senator 
 Corson and I want to see Mr. Devlin when he s in 
 the field." 
 
 Jimmy inclined his head and colored. A com 
 pliment from a woman was something new to him. 
 " I ll be a mighty small frog in that puddle," he said. 
 " But I do think th Convention would interest you 
 some. And now I must be going. I had no idea it 
 was so late. It s nearly eleven o clock." 
 
 He rose quickly, and Mrs. Chambers extended her 
 hand. Jimmy took it, " I ve had a very good time," 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 282 
 
 he said. There was no doubting that he meant it. 
 The hearty squeeze he gave his host s hand was con 
 vincing. Jack made his adieus, and went with him. 
 Jimmy didn t say much as they walked along. 
 In fact there was small opportunity. What was 
 there for him to say when Jack was with him, and 
 they had just come from an evening spent in com 
 pany of The Only Girl ? 
 
CHAPTER XV 283 
 
 IT was " Jack " and " Molly " now. January, Feb 
 ruary and March are accounted austere months ; 
 to Jack they were the sunniest in his memory. 
 So potent are the smiles of The Only Girl. 
 
 Dick Cans was out of town on a long business 
 trip; Tom Rowell had met The Other Girl. There 
 fore, indulgent and galling rivalry and cousinly in 
 terest, scarcely less tormenting, for the three months 
 named were no more than shadows which, when 
 called into the present by some reminiscence of Trie 
 Only Girl, were greeted with a tolerant remark and 
 quickly relegated to a willingly-forgotten past by the 
 young man for whose delectation they had been 
 summoned. It may be that the acquiescence of The 
 Only Girl in this somewhat summary treatment of 
 her reminiscences had root in judicial consideration 
 of the adage " A bird in the hand is worth two in 
 the bush." It may be that comforting reflections 
 upon the opportunities for reprisal which would be 
 afforded her feminine privileges and weapons when 
 Dick Gans returned to town and Tom Rowell was 
 weaned from The Other Girl, encouraged complai 
 sance. Nor is it impossible that her blue eyes had 
 found new attraction in the knight who remained at 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 284 
 
 her side. Who can identify the motives of a young 
 woman of twenty who has indubitable graces of per 
 son, a mind of her own and a heart that is in itself 
 a mystery? 
 
 Jack knew that he was happy, and that the streets 
 were paved with air, especially those which connected 
 his home with a substantial brown-stone fronted 
 building in which was a square room, lined with 
 book shelves and genially warmed by a big fire-place 
 with which he was becoming more and more famil 
 iar. The outlines of this room he had often described 
 to his mother; and she sometimes wished that she 
 might meet the other person who, it seemed, sat 
 perpetually there, but with regard to whose sayings 
 and doings her informant became steadily more reti 
 cent. However, she felt that the time had not yet 
 come for this meeting. She had learned enough 
 from Jack and from Jimmy to satisfy her with 
 what was. She was frank enough if she had not 
 been a mother it might be necessary to say un 
 selfish enough to acknowledge that it could do 
 Jack s cause no good to introduce herself just now 
 among these friends of his. In this she judged Mr. 
 and Mrs. Chambers by a standard more worldly than 
 it was fair to apply to them ; but that was because she 
 did not know them personally. As it was, she 
 waited, calming her sometimes rebellious heart with 
 thoughts of her boy s love for her and with prideful 
 reflections on his outlook. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 285 
 
 She hummed to herself over her sewing, and kept 
 her mind steadily on what was ahead. It is true she 
 was very lonely sometimes, but Jack never was 
 allowed to guess that. It might have been that 
 Jimmy would have guessed it, if he had seen her 
 oftener. But Jimmy was up to his ears in work, and 
 kept in touch with her only by infrequent and hasty 
 calls and by the messages he sent by Jack. If there 
 were other lines of communication between them, 
 Kate was not certain of them, and Jimmy might 
 have repudiated their existence. 
 
 So January, February and March passed 
 bathed in sunlight for Jack and, perhaps, for The 
 Only Girl, too tempered for Kate by joy in her 
 boy s happiness filled for Jimmy with the strenuous 
 activities amid which he strove and thrived. That 
 a great combat was impending that a nation was to 
 entrust its destinies to another man had interest only 
 for the last named. On him it was thrust home by 
 circumstances and by his plans with ever-growing 
 directness and force. 
 
 Already politics, the country over, presented the 
 appearance of a great kaleidoscope a field of work 
 ing, scheming, hurrying, betting men in whose 
 mouths were little else than the words " Grant," 
 " Elaine," " Tilden," " Cincinnati," " Chicago," 
 " State Conventions," " Delegates," " Third Term," 
 " Popular vote," " results uncertain," and the names 
 of every State in the Union and of thrice as many 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 286 
 
 political leaders. For, from the Pacific to the Atlan 
 tic seaboard, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, 
 the country was in the throes of the Presidential elec 
 tion fever a fever which had recurred earlier than 
 was common and had already developed symptoms 
 of alarming violence. Its throbbings were in the air. 
 Business, even so soon, felt its pulses beat irregularly 
 because of the contagion. In every city and village, 
 in every stretch of ranch-dotted prairie and mountain 
 settlement men were marshaling their forces for the 
 first grand struggle the nomination of candidates 
 for the ofHce of President. 
 
 In Jimmy s state the first skirmish had been 
 fought. The State Convention of his party had been 
 held ; and, after a fierce rally, had chosen representa 
 tives to go to the National Convention. The vote of 
 the Convention had stood 133 for Grant, 113 for 
 Elaine upon the question as to who should be sup 
 ported by the State delegation for the nomination. 
 Senator Corson gave an interview in which he said, 
 " This State will go for Ulysses S. Grant for Presi 
 dential nominee. If the delegation votes as it should 
 if the Unit Rule is upheld it will be to give 
 Grant the fifty-eight votes of this Commonwealth s 
 representation. The opposition in this State, when 
 the balloting at Chicago begins, will be unable to 
 muster more than five or six votes for Elaine, in any 
 event." 
 
 Jimmy read this, and smiled. But he was grimly 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 287 
 
 determined, though uncommunicative when ques 
 tioned. Senator Mabie, the Chairman of the Na 
 tional Committee of the party saw him, and argued 
 with him; Senator Corson did the same several 
 times. The latter hinted, then openly referred 
 to services performed in the interests of the Union 
 Bank. But pleadings and arguments were of no 
 avail. Jimmy s reply to Corson s allusions to the 
 State deposits was, " Th Union Bank is my 
 concern; th vote of representatives at Chicago is 
 theirs. I can run th Bank without th deposits of th 
 State, as I once told you; I can t run th people of 
 this city in helping to choose a man for President. 
 You said you wanted a majority to govern. We ll 
 see at Chicago if that majority wants th Unit Rule 
 and Grant. Your vote, as delegate-at-large will go 
 for Grant ; mine won t. I told Senator Mabie this at 
 Washington on January twenty-eighth. You can re 
 peat it to him if he s forgot it. Rushing the State 
 Convention ahead of time so as to cut out th County 
 Conventions that are against you and give th 
 County Committees that are for you a chance to 
 name delegates for Grant will work in some places. 
 It don t work in this city while I m about." 
 
 The Senator deliberately raised an eyebrow and 
 half lifted a heavy eyelid. " This city isn t solid 
 against Grant by a long shot," he remarked in his 
 piping voice. 
 
 But Jimmy went on imperturbably. " Walsh had 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 288 
 
 an axe to grind when he made that deal with you. 
 You ll grind it for him, I daresay. If / have any, 
 I ll grind em myself. It s dangerous turning th 
 stone when Walsh holds th axe his hand s so 
 liable to slip." His face was vacant. 
 
 But Senator Corson knew that this was an ulti 
 matum. If his temper had not long before been 
 bridled, he would have turned loose a hot tongue in 
 reply. What he did was to compress his lips, droop 
 his lids, and say drily, " Don t get cocky over Walsh 
 or the Bank. And, as for the vote, you ll change 
 your mind when you see how the tide runs for Grant 
 at Chicago." 
 
 The developments of the two succeeding months 
 tended to bear out this prediction. The " boom " 
 for Grant gathered strength. Senator Mabie, when 
 asked if anything could persuade him to change 
 front, declared, " Those who know me best know 
 that I never back." But elsewhere the anti-Grant 
 feeling exhibited itself conspicuously. County after 
 county in Jimmy s State repudiated the declaration 
 of the delegates at the State Convention, and called 
 for a fight against the rule providing that State Dele 
 gations should vote as a unit at the National Con 
 vention. On May third nineteen members of the 
 New York delegation pledged themselves not to vote 
 for " The Strong Man." On the thirty-first of the 
 same month the anti-Grant forces from New York 
 and from Jimmy s State held a caucus, and ratified 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 289 
 
 their pledges. Three days later Senator Mabie went 
 to Chicago, and, as Chairman of the National Com 
 mittee, began active work on the field of the coming 
 battle. 
 
 On the same day Jimmy, hurrying his prepara 
 tions for departure with the delegation of which he 
 was recognized as the leader, had a visit from Mar 
 cus. " I want to go to Chicago," the latter an 
 nounced; and, as if that statement was sufficient, 
 waited. 
 
 Jimmy made no protest. This was a ques 
 tion of a few dollars. He sent out, purchased a 
 round-trip ticket to Chicago, and handed it to Mar 
 cus. The latter pocketed it without thanks. " I may 
 see you there/ he said. " I hear Jack s going. I 
 may drop in on him, too." 
 
 Jimmy made a mental note that, if he could pre 
 vent such a meeting, he would. But he did not 
 mention Marcus s visit or his own intentions when 
 he saw Kate that afternoon. " I ll keep an eye on 
 th boy," he said. " But I guess he won t have any 
 eyes for me." 
 
 At six o clock that evening, in company with the 
 delegates from the city, he started for Chicago 
 
 Mr. Chambers s private car held a party of eight 
 Mrs. Chambers, and her husband; Molly; " The 
 Other Girl," known to the world as Ellen Harper; 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 290 
 
 Maizie Bradford, Molly s " dearest friend " ; Jack, 
 Dick Gans, and Tom Rowell. Speeding west 
 ward, attached to an express train, it carried prob 
 ably the lightest hearted party of all those who 
 journeyed to Chicago in those hot days of the last 
 of May and the first of June. Only one of the car s 
 occupants gave token of serious thought, and his 
 reproachful face cleared, as if by magic, when the 
 name " Jack " fell from a certain saucy mouth, or a 
 pair of dancing blue eyes singled him out for their 
 target. 
 
 To the very last Jack had cherished a forlorn hope 
 that a kind providence would prevent Dick Gans 
 from going on the trip. But both Dick and Tom 
 were on hand when the time came, and Jack almost 
 wished that it was his chances of going which had 
 been jeoparded when he heard Molly say, " Dick 
 you don t know how glad I am you are along. I ve 
 got ever so many things to tell you." 
 
 To Jack s private ear Molly confided, " Now, you 
 must be very nice to Maizie Bradford. Tom is so 
 taken up with Ellen Harper you see, that he is hope 
 less." 
 
 Jack s education was so far advanced that he 
 did not voice the question which instantly suggested 
 itself, " But what s the matter with Dick Gans enter 
 taining her?" Instead he replied, "She is a very 
 jolly girl," and, presently, went over, and began to 
 talk to Miss Bradford. Yet he brooded on Molly s 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 291 
 
 speech, and placed the inevitable, uncomfortable con 
 struction upon it. Moreover, he bored Miss Brad 
 ford, who was a pretty girl and a lively conversation 
 alist, so that she sought refuge in the company of her 
 hostess, while he remained alone, to brood some 
 more, until he saw Dick Gans arise quickly and be 
 take himself into the smoking car. The door had 
 not closed on that gentleman s back when Jack 
 dropped into the vacant wicker chair by Molly s side. 
 
 She had been gazing out of the window. Now 
 she turned with a little start, and remarked, " Oh, 
 it s you? I wondered if you remembered that I 
 was in the party." 
 
 " If ? Why, I ve been wanting to talk to you all 
 along." 
 
 "Why, didn t you then?" 
 
 " I was with Miss Bradford. It wouldn t have 
 been just polite would it? " 
 
 She lifted her chin airily. " Then, she is not 
 there now?" She twisted her head, and seemed 
 very much astonished to find that Miss Bradford s 
 chair was empty. " So you came to me when she 
 left you?" she said cuttingly. You are very 
 thoughtful." 
 
 Jack was nettled. " You told me yourself, you 
 may remember, that I was " 
 
 " To be nice to Maizie ? I needn t have taken the 
 trouble, it appears. I didn t suppose that you were 
 so anxious to do it." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 292 
 
 " I ve been sitting there like a stupid owl all the 
 time, and looking everywhere but at her." 
 
 " That was very rude," she said severely. Then, 
 with fresh interest, " You don t think she noticed 
 it?" 
 
 " She couldn t help it," he answered carelessly. 
 
 " Oh ! I am so sorry." 
 
 " Sorry I was looking over here? " 
 
 " No, sorry for Maizie, sorry that you didn t enter 
 tain her. You must go to her again, and make up 
 for your inattention." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "When? When Dick comes back." 
 
 " I don t think I will," he replied stubbornly, " I 
 prefer to sit here." 
 
 "Do you?" arching her eyebrows. She became 
 interested in the landscape. 
 
 " Yes, I do. And, look here, Molly ! Am I going 
 to escort Miss Bradford all of this trip ? " 
 
 " Did she say you might? " 
 
 " I haven t asked her, and I don t in " 
 
 " You don t have to ask her, perhaps. She likes 
 you, and I want you to like her." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because." 
 
 "Because why?" 
 
 " Because she s my dearest friend." 
 
 This was not conclusive to Jack. But he did not 
 push along that line further; skirmishing makes 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 293 
 
 even the volunteer wary. " All right/ he said, 
 " then I ll do what I can to entertain her. She s 
 coming back to her old seat now; she has a book. 
 I ll go over and read to her." He spoke calmly, 
 almost cheerfully. 
 
 Molly stole a look at his face, and found it in 
 scrutable. Still gazing out of the window, she said 
 judicially, " I don t think she cares to be read to. 
 Besides, it s bad for the eyes to read in the 
 cars." 
 
 " Suppose, then, that I get her to stop reading, 
 and talk?" 
 
 " You said you were stupid when you talked to 
 her before. She s my friend; I don t want her 
 bored." 
 
 " No, that s so. But," hopefully, " I might do 
 better this time. Shall I try? " 
 
 " Yes," she said impatiently, and he started to 
 rise. He had flung the challenge, and she taken it 
 up; there could be no backing down for him now. 
 But, when he was on his feet, she added without 
 turning her head and in a voice that it did not seem 
 possible he could hear, " I wonder what I shall do 
 all alone by myself ? " 
 
 Immediately he sat down again, but, apparently 
 she still imagined that she was speaking solely for 
 her own benefit; for she answered her question 
 herself. " I know what. I ll send for Dick." She 
 turned as she spoke, and saw Jack. "What? Are 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 294 
 
 you back again? 5 When he did not answer, she 
 went on, " Well, it won t be long till Dick comes." 
 
 "I ll not wait on Dick s pleasure," he declared 
 fiercely. 
 
 " But you will on mine? " 
 
 His resentment melted. " Yes, if you ll be if 
 you ll Oh, you know what I mean ! " 
 
 He tried to make her look at him, but she was 
 gazing out of the window. " Molly ;" he said. She 
 pretended not to hear. " Molly ! " he repeated. 
 
 Her face came about swiftly. " Did you speak to 
 me?" 
 
 " Yes, I wanted to know if you ll be the way 
 I want?" 
 
 " I ll try." 
 
 "Is it hard?" 
 
 " Not so very hard." 
 
 " Then, you don t want me to escort Miss Brad 
 ford all the time ?" 
 
 "Did I say so?" 
 
 "You intimated it." 
 
 " Well, I guess, I don t want you to all the 
 time." 
 
 "Half the time?" 
 
 " There are three girls in this party," she saiS. 
 
 " Then I m to go the rounds ? An equal division 
 of my time to each girl ? Is that it ? " 
 
 " That s fair, don t you think so ? You re so 
 popular, you know." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 295 
 
 He reddened, and muttered something. " Don t 
 get angry," she warned. " You ll spoil your good 
 looks." 
 
 He started to rise. " And, I think, Tom Rowell 
 would be willing to take your share of Ellen s 
 company, if you knew what to do with your time," 
 she added with provoking slowness. 
 
 He looked at her doubtfully. " Do you mean 
 that?" he asked. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "That I can be with you when?" 
 
 "With me?" Her eyes opened wide. "Why, 
 yes, you can be with me, I guess. That is when 
 I m not with Dick." 
 
 " Hang Dick ! " he said savagely. She gave him a 
 horrified glance. "Mr. Doran!" she exclaimed, 
 and finished, " There s Dick now ! I suppose, his 
 cigar wasn t good." 
 
 " Did he leave you for a cigar? " 
 
 " Oh, no," she replied instantly. " I told him, I 
 wanted to be " Dick s approach cut short her ex 
 planation. He halted beside her chair, and said 
 something about the smoking car being hot. He 
 didn t look comfortable. But he made no move to 
 sit down. 
 
 Suddenly, Molly said to Jack, "Oh, I forgot! 
 Don t tell that to anyone." 
 
 " Wha ?" began Jack, then saw the frown 
 leveled at him from beneath a mass of curls, and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 296 
 
 laughed. " No, of course, not/ he answered. To 
 himself he said, " Now, what the dickens, is it I m 
 not to tell?" 
 
 Dick did not stay. He went over to where Maizie 
 Bradford sat. Jack whispered to Molly, " I caught 
 your frown just in time." 
 
 " Frown? Did I frown?" 
 
 " Yes, you did. Why was it? " 
 
 " Maybe it was my hair ; it s always blowing in 
 my face, and tickling me." She put up a slim hand, 
 and patted her hair. It was in perfect order. 
 
 " But you said to me, don t tell ? " persisted 
 Jack. 
 
 " Do you like my hair better done up this way, 
 or low down?" she asked. She turned her profile 
 to him that he might judge fairly. But her eyes re 
 mained on his. They glanced at him sideways. Her 
 chin was lifted; a distracting curve of throat and 
 neck rewarded Jack. One hand rested on the arm 
 of the chair. The fingers curled, a rosy palm up 
 turned. 
 
 Suddenly, the world was whirling round Jack. 
 He leaned forward a critical attitude and put out 
 a hand to steady himself. He was amazed to have 
 it come in contact with a capital support in the form 
 of the arm of her chair. He had to run his fingers 
 along this to be sure that it was what it seemed to 
 be ; and found that it was all unyielding wicker-work. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 297 
 
 But his fingers tingled nevertheless and his voice 
 trembled as he said, " I like it better down." 
 
 " And after I wore it this way because because 
 I liked it best ! " she pouted. She patted her hair 
 again with both hands, and dropped them on her 
 lap. 
 
 " Oh, but that s the way I mean I like your hair 
 the way you have it," Jack corrected. " Wear it 
 always that way." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " To please me." 
 
 "You conceited thing!" 
 
 "But you will wear it that way, won t you? 
 I like your hair so much." 
 
 " Yes, my hair is my only good point. Now my 
 nose " 
 
 " Is the prettiest could be." 
 
 She tip-tilted it to judge for herself. " But it s 
 a pug," she sighed. " And my eyes " 
 
 " Let s see them ? " begged Jack. She flashed 
 on him a look which staggered him, and he ex 
 claimed, " Your eyes ! They re beautiful and 
 
 they re blue ! And, oh, Molly ! " He stammered, 
 
 then halted. There was no mistake ; the whirling of 
 the world had completely upset him. 
 
 But the surroundings of the car as well as other 
 things were obvious to Molly. She bent forward 
 swiftly. " Look ! Do look at that old farmer and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 298 
 
 that horse ! " she cried. " It s running away ! " Her 
 nose was pressed against the window glass. Her 
 back was turned on Jack. A sense of his environ 
 ment, and, perhaps, of other things, returned to 
 him. But he was not polite. He refused to give 
 even a glance to the farmer and the horse of runaway 
 inclinations. 
 
 Mrs. Chambers came over, and he gave her his 
 chair, and went to get another for himself. As he 
 passed Dick Cans he noted that the latter apparently 
 was deep in a confidential conversation with Maizie 
 Bradford. Wheeling about, he caught Molly s 
 eyes fixed on the same couple. She didn t seem to 
 be pleased for some reason; and, thereupon, Jack s 
 face reflected her dissatisfaction, all of which was 
 extremely unfair to the object of this displeasure, 
 since he was only doing what Jack was glad to have 
 him do and what Molly should have wished him to 
 do in the case of her " dearest friend." It must have 
 been this thought which reproached her as Jack came 
 up; for she said to her mother, " Dick is always so 
 nice to everybody. He doesn t especially care for 
 Maizie, yet he s over there doing all that he can to 
 make her think that he does." 
 
 The faintest of smiles touched Mrs. Chambers s 
 lips, but she made no reply. She talked with the 
 other two until the first call for dinner summoned 
 them ; and, when they arose, Jack realized that they 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 299 
 
 had been speaking a great deal about himself, and 
 that Molly s part in the conversation had not been 
 large. He wondered why it was that Mrs. Cham 
 bers always reminded him so much of his mother. 
 
 That evening the party gathered in a little circle, 
 and Jack who was next to Maizie Bradford dis 
 covered that she was not bad company under the 
 circumstances. But Tom Rowell who occupied a 
 chair near to The Other Girl, and Dick Gans who 
 was between Mrs. Chambers and his host, apparently 
 were less contented. Indeed, Dick, at nine o clock, 
 asked if he might be excused while he smoked a 
 cigar, and stalked away, saying he would be back 
 in half an hour. 
 
 Jack saw a tiny frown gather on Molly s fore 
 head. She sat silent for a few minutes, then smoth 
 ered a pretty, little yawn with a hand, and laugh 
 ingly declared that she couldn t keep her eyes open 
 another minute. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers confessed 
 to the same weakness, and the circle broke up. 
 
 Tom and The Other Girl decided to take a look 
 out of the observation end of the car. " To see that 
 the track s all right behind us," as Tom explained 
 to Jack, when the latter winked at him. 
 
 Jack was left alone with Molly who had lost her 
 handkerchief and was hunting for it. He kneeled 
 down, and found it for her. She thanked him, and 
 held out her hand. " Good night, Jack," she said. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 300 
 
 There is mischief in blue eyes under the shaded 
 light of lamps, and Jack held her hand. " Good 
 night, Molly," he said. Then, " Molly, why is it 
 that you try to make me miserable?" 
 
 " Why, Mr. Doran ! " she began. But the lips 
 that were at the beginning of a little mouth of won 
 derment took it on themselves to droop, and their 
 allies, the blue eyes, realizing that they were be 
 trayed, wavered, then hid themselves. But, again, 
 they could not resist a shy peep at the dark ones 
 which had put them to confusion, and what they 
 saw there made their owner say, " I don t know why 
 I tease you; but it must be because you are so easy 
 to tease, and because I like you, Jack." 
 
 " Oh, Molly ! " he said, in breathless hurry to 
 voice something which throbbed at his wrists and 
 temples. " Go on teasing, if you want to if you 
 like me." 
 
 She drew away her hand, and twisted a little 
 corner in her handkerchief. " And, Molly," he 
 added ; " don t you like me better than you did ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And you ll like me better still? " 
 
 " I I hope so." Suddenly her eyes were raised 
 again, this time from the handkerchief which she 
 was still twisting. They were so tender and deep 
 and a trifle uncertain! 
 
 Jack found himself pitying them, somehow. He 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 301 
 
 felt the tears start in his own, and was not ashamed. 
 " I m going to keep on trying to make you like me 
 better all the time," he said in a low voice. " You 
 can t stop me doing that." 
 
 " I don t want to," she answered, and fled. 
 
 Jack stood where he was. Then he saw on the 
 floor a bit of cambric with one corner tied in a tight 
 little knot. He picked it up and hid it. He wouldn t 
 have untied that knot for all the world. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 302 
 
 THEY were standing on a balcony which ran 
 along outside their windows on the third 
 floor of the hotel. It was half past four 
 o clock of the day of their arrival in Chicago, 
 June the fourth. Below them, as far as they could 
 see, the pavements were thick with men. Everyone 
 was in a hurry. It was in the hotel section of the 
 town, now a hive of activity, thrumming with the 
 voices and movements of those who poured in and 
 out of the headquarters of the various State Delega 
 tions. It was the third day of the big Convention 
 the third day of the greatest struggle between fac 
 tions which has ever marked the selection of a Presi 
 dential nominee. 
 
 Mr. Chambers spoke to the rest of the party. 
 " Do you see that building on the opposite side of 
 the way, in the next block? The one hung with 
 bunting? " 
 
 " I can see half a dozen with flags and signs on 
 them," answered Molly. 
 
 But Jack singled out the building, and pointed it 
 to the rest. Dick Cans at once said, " That s where 
 the delegation from our state is. You can read the 
 name over the door, if you look close." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 303 
 
 Molly exclaimed that she saw it. " I wonder if 
 Jimmy s there now ? " she added. 
 
 "Very likely," said Mr. Chambers; " for it s one 
 of the busiest places in the city to-day. The old 
 state is playing a big part in this Convention." 
 
 " It s what they call a pivotal state, you see," ex 
 plained Dick to Molly. 
 
 " That term applies only to an election," cor 
 rected Jack. 
 
 " It applies in this case, too," returned Dick. 
 " Our state is the pivot of this Convention. It was 
 our delegation that defeated the Unit Rule." 
 
 " Well, go ahead, Mr. Know-it-all ! " Molly ad 
 monished, when he halted. " Explain the Unit 
 Rule, sir!" 
 
 Tom Rowell also called for an explanation. Dick 
 Cans smiled patronizingly. " It was a rule pro 
 viding that every State Delegation should vote as a 
 unit on the nomination," he said lazily. 
 
 " A fact that we knew already," commented 
 Molly. " You are not going to get off with that lame 
 explanation." 
 
 It happened that Mrs. Chambers had just asked a 
 question about the Unit Rule, and her husband took 
 up the explication. " The rule provided," he 
 said, " that each delegation should vote unanimously 
 on every question which was to be decided by vote 
 in the Convention. It made no difference what a 
 minority of the members of a delegation thought 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 304 
 
 on a question ; the majority of the delegates in that 
 delegation spoke for themselves and for the minority 
 as well. Every vote in every delegation was to be 
 cast as the majority of the delegation willed. 
 There s been righting in plenty over this rule be 
 fore." 
 
 " It does n t seem to me to be a fair rule in a 
 country like ours where every man is supposed to 
 have his say," ventured Miss Bradford. 
 
 " That s what a lot of people in our state thought," 
 amended Tom. " There was the biggest kind of a 
 row over it at the State Convention." 
 
 " Now, Dick, explain," commanded Molly. " If 
 you don t get rid of some of your superfluous infor 
 mation, you ll burst." 
 
 Tom and Jack exchanged glances of satisfaction. 
 Dick Gans often was better informed than they on 
 public questions, but he was also inclined to be super 
 cilious. He did not show to advantage on the rack ; 
 and Molly was conversant with the tortures most 
 distressing to him and delectable to others. 
 
 Dick understood his position, but he answered 
 quickly enough, " The thing is really very simple. 
 The Grant people wanted the Unit Rule, the rest 
 didn t. So there was a row." 
 
 A peal of laughter greeted this primary lesson 
 in cause and effect, and the speaker did not accept 
 his humiliation with the proper grace, so Molly 
 prodded him with the question, " Why did the Grant 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 305 
 
 people want the Unit Rule? That s what we wish 
 to know." 
 
 Mr. Chambers intervened. " It wasn t absolutely 
 clear at the start at least not to outsiders why the 
 Grant people did want it. But it came out that 
 Senator Mabie and others who were for Grant be 
 lieved that, by making every delegation cast the full 
 strength of its vote on one side or the other, Grant 
 would be a gainer. It is said that Grant is favored 
 by a majority of the members of enough delegations 
 to secure for him the nomination, if the vote was by 
 delegations, and not by individuals. But, with the 
 delegations split up, the minorities make a formida 
 ble opposition to Grant. If they could be brought 
 to agree upon a candidate, they would be able to 
 elect him, perhaps." 
 
 " Our State is split up that way," supplemented 
 Jack. " You know Jimmy is against both Senator 
 Mabie and Senator Corson who are great Grant 
 men." 
 
 " That is what I referred to when I said our State 
 is playing such a big part in the Convention," re 
 sumed Mr. Chambers. "If our state had voted as 
 one man, fifty-eight votes would have been given to 
 Grant enough to elect him, some say. But that 
 particular issue is dead now. Hoar, the Permanent 
 Chairman of the Convention refused to be bulldozed, 
 and, practically, put the question of the Unit Rule 
 before the Convention for settlement yesterday. The 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 306 
 
 Convention decided to give every man his vote, 
 whether in a minority or not. That killed the Unit 
 Rule. Moreover, it makes it unlikely that Mabie 
 or anyone else will be able to persuade the minority 
 in our delegation to join hands with the Grant 
 people." 
 
 " No, they ll never persuade Jimmy," affirmed 
 Jack heartily. " Jimmy s as stubborn as a mule, 
 once he s made up his mind." 
 
 " That s my own idea," remarked Mr. Chambers. 
 " And, if Devlin holds out, it means the toughest 
 kind of a fight for the Grant crowd. They need his 
 twenty odd votes. It will be a bitter pill for 
 Senator Mabie to swallow after the boasts he s 
 made." 
 
 " But Mabie and Corson are going to have their 
 way in the end," declared Dick, wagging his head. 
 " They are on the right side. Devlin represents but 
 a few delegates, at best." 
 
 " You are a strong Grant man ? " 
 
 " Yes, I am the strongest kind. And I m going 
 to have the chance to vote for him for President, 
 too." 
 
 He spoke with such an air of assurance that Mol 
 ly s nose was elevated. She said to Jack aside, 
 " You ve got a vote this time. I want you to vote 
 the other way." 
 
 " I will," he said, speaking up. " My vote goes 
 for Elaine." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 307 
 
 " Elaine will never be nominated," laughed Dick 
 scornfully. 
 
 Mrs. Chambers smiled. " Why don t you both 
 address the Convention ? " she suggested. There was 
 a general laugh. But neither Dick nor Jack weak 
 ened. " I wish Jimmy would speak in the Conven 
 tion," said Molly, presently. 
 
 " Devlin is not a speaker/ commented Dick with 
 an air that implied that the said Devlin was not much 
 of anything. 
 
 " But you ll let him speak for himself this time, 
 won t you ? " remarked some one back of them. It 
 was Jimmy. He was neatly dressed and smooth 
 shaven as usual, but there were weary lines about his 
 restless, fever-burning eyes to dispute supremacy 
 with his smile and blithe tones. 
 
 Mr. Chambers shook hands with him, and Mrs. 
 Chambers presented him to the party. Jimmy bowed 
 and shook hands with Molly. " How are you, old 
 boy?" he asked, grabbing Jack s arm. Then he 
 handed Mr. Chambers a bunch of tickets, strapped 
 together. " There are th cards of admission to th 
 Convention one for each day?" he said. "I m 
 glad you took my advice and didn t come on earlier. 
 It was very hot here. Mrs. Chambers, did you 
 suffer much from th heat? " 
 
 " No," she replied. " We had a car to ourselves, 
 you know, and didn t have to stop on the road, as 
 I hear that you had to do." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 308 
 
 Yes, we laid by, but we weren t in a great hurry 
 to get here. We knew what we were running into. 
 We have been busy enough since we came, though." 
 
 "Tell me all about it," demanded Molly. She 
 threw him one of her dazzling smiles. Jack decided 
 that Jimmy must be of cast-iron if he could with 
 stand that. 
 
 But Jimmy only said, " What can I tell you ? 
 Th newspapers know more than we do." 
 
 " Tell us about Senator Corson and Senator 
 Mabie. What are they doing? " 
 
 " Still working for Grant." 
 
 " But I thought you had had a fight with them, 
 and won? " 
 
 " A fight ? 7 haven t been doin much fighting. 
 I ve been looking on and sawing wood. 
 
 The men laughed. Molly was dissatisfied. " I ve 
 read the newspapers, and tried to understand them; 
 and the rest have just been explaining about that 
 horrid Unit Rule; but I don t understand yet, Mr. 
 Devlin. Now, you know all about it; won t you 
 tell me just what they ve done since the Convention 
 began?" 
 
 Jimmy whistled softly. " Now, I ve put my foot 
 in it ! " he ejaculated. " Why, to tell you that would 
 take me all night, and I wouldn t be through then." 
 
 " But tell me the important things so that I ll 
 know what s coming when we go to the Convention 
 to-morrow." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 309 
 
 Jimmy s face reflected his helplessness, but he said, 
 presently, All right; I ll do my best. On th first 
 day of th Convention seven hundred and fifty odd 
 delegates met, organized and selected Senator Hoar 
 of Massachusetts for Permanent Chairman; and he 
 appointed th committees. Then they decided to 
 admit to th Convention all th anti-Grant delegates." 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed Molly. She understood that 
 this was a victory for Jimmy s side. 
 
 He smiled. " Yes, it was good. And yes 
 terday they did better, when they abolished that 
 horrid Unit Rule." 
 
 " Does that mean that Elaine will be elected ? I 
 mean isn t that what the Bosses think? " 
 
 " No," he replied with a gravity becoming this 
 appeal to his professional confidence. " It doesn t 
 even mean that Elaine will be nominated. But it is 
 a big step in th right direction. And, now, about 
 to-day? Let s see! At this morning s session th 
 Convention spent five hours in talking. This eve 
 ning they re not likely to do much more. So I ad 
 vise you to wait till to-morrow to go. Th nomina 
 tion speeches will most likely be made then." 
 
 " Now, I know it all, and I m very much obliged," 
 said Molly. " But what have you been doing? The 
 truth, remember." 
 
 "Me?" echoed Jimmy. He shifted his feet, and 
 mechanically began to button up his coat. " I 
 haven t been doin much except sawing wood. 1 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 310 
 
 " Was it sawing wood when you got those 
 twenty-two men, day before yesterday, to sign that 
 paper that they never, never would vote for Grant? " 
 pursued Molly. It was one of the few things of 
 which she had carried away a distinct impression 
 from her reading of the newspapers. 
 
 Jimmy s face lighted up. " Oh, that wasn t much 
 so th other fellows say," he protested, but his voice 
 proclaimed that he was of a different opinion person 
 ally. 
 
 " But you won t give in to them, will you? " This 
 was for the especial instruction of Dick. 
 
 "Give in?" The muscles about Jimmy s mouth 
 tightened, his eyes grew earnest. " No, we won t 
 give in. There are twenty-five delegates from our 
 state, behind me, who are goin to vote against 
 Grant till the last horn blows. We are goin to 
 nominate James G. Elaine for President if it s to be 
 done." 
 
 " There ! I knew you were a speaker," Molly 
 cried. " And you will address the Convention, 
 won t you? " 
 
 Jimmy looked a trifle ashamed of his outburst. 
 " No, no, I won t speak," he returned hastily. " I m 
 a worker, not a talker. But I ll be at th Conven 
 tion, and I ll keep an eye out for you. I ve got to 
 go now. Good-bye, all ! " 
 
 That evening Molly s persuasions prevailed over 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 311 
 
 Mr. Chambers s fatigue, and the party, Mrs. Cham 
 bers excepted, threaded their way among the crowds 
 on the streets, now and then listening to the curb 
 stone orators. 
 
 The crowds were larger than during the after 
 noon. There were more onlookers abroad ; the num 
 ber of men wearing badges was smaller, most of them 
 being at the Convention. Here and there a knot of 
 listeners surrounded a vociferous and perspiring gen 
 tleman who, mounted on a box or convenient car 
 riage block, hat and coat pushed back, banged one 
 hand with a fist, and waved his arms. The blare of 
 horns and the beat of drums drew streams of pedes 
 trians in the wake of marching clubs. Some of these 
 paraders were singing. To the tune of " Old Folks 
 at Home," two hundred men kept time with the 
 following words : 
 
 " Lo! in our Nation s glorious morning, 
 
 Young and free and fair ; 
 Hark, to our patriot father s warning ! 
 
 Sounding thro the air. 
 Sainted spirits hover o er us, 
 
 God sent from on high, 
 Pointing to yawning gulfs before us, 
 
 To the lee shore nigh." 
 
 Another party of three hundred or more sang to 
 the air of " When Johnny Comes Marching Home," 
 the following: 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 312 
 
 " We ll guard the law. Aye, let it stand. 
 
 Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
 A mighty rock for Freedom s land. 
 
 Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
 No third ! No fourth ! No other term ! 
 
 Of Royalty the slightest germ. 
 The third term scheme the people 
 Do condemn." 
 
 A third parade turned from a cross street as the 
 party were making their way homeward. Secure on 
 the steps of a nearby house they watched a 
 hundred men go by. Tow Rowell declared that the 
 paraders were from their own city. " I saw them 
 marching a few days before we left home," he said. 
 " Look at their transparency ! " 
 
 On the transparency was inscribed : 
 
 A Party without a Master, 
 A Candidate without a Stain. 
 
 " A Grant club," affirmed Dick. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," declared Tom. " It s a Elaine 
 club." 
 
 " It s the National Club an anti-Grant Club from 
 our city." said Mr. Chambers. " I remember them 
 now." 
 
 Molly pointed to the fat man who leaned far back 
 ward to balance the transparency which he bore. 
 But Jack did not respond. Close to the last file of 
 marching men in frock coats and silk hats, he saw a 
 tall figure with something familiar in its carriage. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 313 
 
 The man had a cigar in his mouth, one of his arms 
 was linked in that of a companion. He lurched, now 
 and then; he was laughing. Jack recognized his 
 father, and he bent down, as if to tie his shoe. He 
 did not straighten up until his father s figure was 
 silhouetted against the glare of the torches. Then 
 he gave a quick look at Molly. She was talking to 
 Maizie Bradford; he drew a breath of relief. 
 
 Going back they stopped in front of one of the 
 hotels over whose doorway were strips of painted 
 canvas bearing the names of three states, indicat 
 ing that the place was the headquarters of as many 
 delegations. The hotel rotunda resembled a stock 
 exchange on the day of a lively market. A noisy 
 mob of men talked, gesticulated and smoked. Most 
 of them were red and perspiring; each one seemed 
 to be alive to his public responsibilities, and was 
 desirous that onlookers should observe this. Mes 
 senger boys darted from the throng and were swal 
 lowed up in the crowds on the pavement. 
 
 Molly wanted to go into this hotel. She declared 
 that the only way to appreciate a Convention was 
 to see the whole thing. But her uncle promptly 
 vetoed the proposition. " The crowds were too 
 rough at night." 
 
 * Then I shall ask Jimmy to take me in the first 
 chance in the daytime," she declared. " I m sure 
 we d hear who was going to be elected if we were 
 in there." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 314 
 
 Half an hour before the Convention opened on the 
 following day, Mr. Chambers s party were in their 
 places. They were in the second row of the seats 
 reserved for ticket holders. From their position they 
 could see the length and breadth of the building and 
 commanded a fine view of the Speaker s stand. 
 
 Ten thousand people were in this hall which was 
 a part of the huge exposition building. The galleries 
 were packed. The summer gowns of the women 
 touched with gay color the banks of sober-hued coats 
 and white shirt fronts which rose on three sides of 
 the building from the edge of the delegates floor up 
 to and under the galleries. The building was in the 
 form of a vast ellipse. Around the columns and 
 arches supporting the roof were twisted strips of 
 bunting. The national colors draped transverse 
 beams and doorways. Set around the walls, from 
 which the roof trusses sprang, one hundred feet into 
 the air, interspersed with the shields of the various 
 states, were pictures of the Presidents and other dis 
 tinguished men, festooned with flags, fastened with 
 rosettes. A large portrait of Washington was in 
 the middle ; another of Lincoln faced the seat of the 
 Chairman, surrounded with the inscription : " And 
 the government of the people, for the people, by 
 the people shall not perish from the earth." Palms 
 and other growing plants filled in the niches and 
 terraced the platforms. 
 
 Opposite the main entrance of the hall, on a raised 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 315 
 
 platform, was the Chairman s seat, back of him the 
 seats of the National Committee, on either side those 
 of the distinguished guests. Below spread the seats 
 of the Delegates, fronted by the places occupied by 
 the secretaries and reporters. A pole bearing a 
 shield inscribed with the name of its state indicated 
 the position of each delegation. Many of the dele 
 gates already had arrived, and were in their seats, 
 or stood in the aisles, talking and laughing. These 
 little groups were continually dissolving and form 
 ing anew. Fresh arrivals poured down the aisles, 
 branching off, here and there, until the passage-way 
 was clear. It was a great, animated picture, shifting 
 its atoms every second, yet preserving its form and 
 color always. Far above on the roof arches crept a 
 few daring men who had climbed upon the roof out 
 side and so made their way through the long win 
 dows into the building, escaping the watch of the 
 ushers. The promise of a great fight was irresistible. 
 
 After their first swift look around the hall two 
 pairs of eyes among those in Mr. Chambers s party 
 searched for one and the same figure ; and, for some 
 time, did not find what they sought. Then Molly 
 spied a short, gray-coated man mounting the steps to 
 the Chairman s platform. He was shaking a hand 
 here, nodding to a man there; once he used his 
 curved fingers as a trumpet to send a message over 
 a sea of heads to a friend across the hall. 
 
 " There he is ! There s Jimmy ! " she exclaimed, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 316 
 
 in her excitement, grabbing Jack s arm. They both 
 stared, and involuntarily cried, " Jimmy ! " under 
 their breath; then looked at each other, and laughed 
 foolishly. 
 
 Jimmy reached the platform level, and went to the 
 side of the Chairman. For several minutes these 
 two talked together. Once the Chairman threw 
 back his head and laughed. When Jimmy turned 
 to descend the platform his watchers tried to attract 
 his attention. They waved their fans frantically, not 
 realizing that, among the thousands of fans and 
 folded papers which moved ceaselessly, theirs were 
 indistinguishable. 
 
 Nevertheless, they saw Jimmy pause, and gaze in 
 their direction. Then he waved an arm, and they 
 both waved back at him, and their signal was re 
 turned. " He said he d see us, but I didn t believe 
 it," said Molly. 
 
 " If he said he d do anything, you can be sure he d 
 do it," replied Jack. " If he said he d shove the 
 Chairman out of that seat, and put you in it, he d 
 carry it out, unless they tied him up first." 
 
 A scattering fire of hand-clapping and cheers 
 turned their eyes upon the delegates floor. 
 
 " What is it? " asked Maizie Bradford. 
 
 " It s Senator Mabie coming in," Mr. Chambers 
 returned. " There he is now ! " He pointed out a 
 man of above middle height, stoutly built, with a 
 large, reddish brown mustache and thick brown hair. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 317 
 
 His big nose and the heavy lines of his jaw could be 
 seen even at that distance. " Is that Senator 
 Mabie? " said Molly scornfully. "Why, he looks 
 like some business man." 
 
 " Did you expect an ogre? " inquired Mr. Cham 
 bers. " However your description isn t bad. But 
 don t forget looks are deceptive. And there s 
 Senator Corson. Right behind Mabie ! " he added. 
 They all strained their eyes, but got but a glimpse of 
 Senator s Corson s squat figure before a knot of men 
 gathered around him. Miss Harper declared that 
 celebrities were disappointing. 
 
 Then the Chairman s gavel fell, and slowly 
 the meeting came to order. What was said and done 
 in the next few minutes was not easily understood by 
 many spectators. The delegates were settling in their 
 seats ; there was much shuffling of feet, and a subsid 
 ing hum of conversation. Mr. Chambers pointed 
 out two men seated near the Chairman. One of 
 these was General Sheridan, of whom they could see 
 little more than his head, as he sat back of another 
 man. The second man was of slight frame. He was 
 dressed in a lavender suit, and carried a switch cane 
 with which he tapped his boot. He was inconspicu 
 ous in every way, and they were amazed to hear that 
 he was Prince Leopold of England. While they 
 were discussing him, a man suddenly walked to the 
 front of the Speaker s pedestal; a hush instantly 
 fell on the assemblage. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 318 
 
 " It s th first nomination speech," explained a 
 man next to them. " It s Mr. Joy of Michigan. 
 He ll nominate Elaine." 
 
 And so Mr. Joy did, and got his share of applause. 
 But there seemed to be general disappointment over 
 his address. Dick Gans was triumphant. " That s 
 a fair sample of the men who will talk for Elaine," 
 he said. 
 
 " It isn t all in the speech-making," retorted 
 Molly. " People vote to elect a President. Any 
 way, we have yet to hear your great Grant orator." 
 
 Jack took up Mr. Joy s cudgels, and soon the 
 entire party were drawn into the debate. Indeed the 
 speech of the man who nominated Mr. Windom was 
 almost unheard by them. But a burst of applause 
 which grew louder and louder cut short the argu 
 ment at last. Another man had taken his place on 
 the Speaker s stand, and every eye was turned on 
 him. 
 
 " Roscoe Conkling," said Mr. Chambers. 
 
 There was something in the figure of this man, 
 something in his conscious pose, in the confident, al 
 most vain poise of his head, as he swept his glance 
 over the hall which marked him as a man of power. 
 He seemed to say to them, " Here I am ! Regard 
 me ! " He looked like a great actor in the moment 
 before he delivers a period which he knows will stir 
 his audience. 
 
 Molly breathed softly, but so that the rest heard 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 319 
 
 her, " He reminds me of a cavalier of some old 
 court." 
 
 The characterization was not inapt. Tall, broad- 
 shouldered, his body tapering to flat hips and long, 
 firm legs, Conkling stood squarely and gracefully. 
 His head was thrown back a little. The lines of his 
 face resembled a cameo. The high forehead on 
 which lay a lock of hair, curling from the rather 
 scanty brown of the crown, the strong, large nose, 
 the carven lips, carried into jutting prominence by a 
 trim beard of yellowed brown, flecked with gray 
 all these stood out in bold relief. The steely glint of 
 his eyes pierced his watchers. So imposing and 
 magnetic was his front, for all of its theatrical sug 
 gestion, that the applause which had greeted his ap 
 pearance was redoubled ere he opened his lips. 
 
 Then his arm was upraised, silence chained the 
 vast hall; and the thousands hearkened to such a 
 speech as few of them had ever heard. As the minutes 
 sped by the words came from his lips, without hesita 
 tion, but with many a dramatic pause. They poured 
 out, not as a torrent; but, now as a silvery stream, 
 now as a strong-running river, now in the rumbling 
 organ notes of a mighty cataract, each one distinct, 
 measured, resonant, musical ; modulated to the feeling 
 of the speaker, keyed to a pitch of intensity, to pathos, 
 or sarcasm, to recollection of noble deeds and declara 
 tions, to acts of mercy and promises of achievement 
 as splendid and inspiring as any. His utterances were 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 320 
 
 polished, bitter, and enthusiastic. They stung with 
 their vindictive lashing; they burned with the ardor 
 of a cause. And Grant ! Grant ! Grant was the name 
 which he linked always with his exordiums, appeals, 
 commands. Elaine was the target of his attacks, 
 open and covert. It was Grant s name with which 
 he conjured, but it was the tide of his own 
 eloquence which bore him along and carried his lis 
 teners with him amid the scenes he pictured, into 
 fields of strenuous life and glorious deeds, until 
 enthusiasm burst all bonds. Again and again they 
 rose, and drowned his voice in a roar of cries and 
 beating feet and hands, and made him wait. 
 
 When he had finished, quivering, glowing, 
 masterful, his eagle eyes flashing in exultation, the 
 thousands were on their feet, and made the build 
 ing shake with a storm of applause. A sea of flags, 
 handkerchiefs, fans, hats beat the air. To the ear 
 and eye it seemed as if nowhere in all that vast hall 
 there remained a tongue that was silent, an arm 
 that was not upraised in celebration of the magnifi 
 cence of those utterances. 
 
 But there were such silent tongues and inert arms, 
 and they were to be counted by the hundreds. The 
 anti-Grant men, whether they were for Elaine or for 
 some chieftain unnamed, for the most part, sat grim 
 and unresponsive. Their ears were not yet done with 
 drinking in the oratory which had just flooded the 
 building, but their hearts were sore because of this 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 321 
 
 triumph, and their brains were busy with plans to 
 counteract its effects. Soon, all over the floor where 
 the delegates sat, were men hurrying from seat to 
 seat. A score of whispered consultations betokened 
 the apprehension created by Conkling s impassioned 
 and insinuating address. 
 
 Molly and Jack and the rest of that little group 
 sat spell-bound for a moment after the wild out 
 burst of cheers and wavings had exhausted itself. 
 They understood only a part of what had been said, 
 but their heads still rang and their hearts throbbed 
 with the melody of the speaker s voice. Then Molly 
 turned to Dick. " Oh, he was magnificent ! " she 
 said. " If he was only on our side ! " 
 
 It was the most flattering of concessions, and 
 Dick replied, " He was grand ! I wish he was for 
 Elaine, if he wasn t for Grant." 
 
 " I guess, Grant will win," Molly confided to 
 Jack. " He couldn t help it after that." 
 
 " It looks as if he must," admitted Jack. " Per 
 haps, though, they may forget Conkling s speech by 
 the time they vote." 
 
 " No, no, they can t forget it," she returned. 
 " Nobody possibly could." She turned to her uncle 
 who was explaining some of the allusions Conkling 
 had made. 
 
 Then another man came forward to speak, and 
 they learned that it was Garfield. With the picture 
 of Conkling s gallant pose fresh in mind, the tall, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 322 
 
 strong figure and fine head of this Ohio man were 
 unimpressive. He had a sensible face; and his large, 
 bright eyes, prominent nose and full cheeks, framed 
 in a brown beard, tinged with gray gave a Germanic 
 cast to his countenance which was comfortable and 
 resolute, but not inspiring. And, when he began 
 speaking in a clear, sincere voice, he gained the re 
 spectful attention of his audience; but, except among 
 those who realized the adroitness of his utterances 
 and the sanity of his thought, and knew that he stood 
 in a position of vital import to every delegate whether 
 for or against Grant except among these he failed 
 to gain the consideration for his address to which 
 its strength and cogency and the logic of the situa 
 tion entitled to it. Yet everyone who listened with an 
 ear sensitive to warning notes and with a mind alive 
 to the uncertainties of the impending struggle 
 weighed those final, portentous words which fell 
 from his lips, as they afterward remembered, with 
 almost the magic of prophecy. 
 
 " I have seen," he said, " the sea lashed in its fury 
 and tossed with spray, and then rise to a grandeur 
 that moved the soul of a man who looked upon it; 
 but, I remembered, that it is the calm level of the sea 
 from which all heights and depths are measured. 
 When the hour of calm settles on the ocean, when the 
 sunlight bathes it, then the astronomer and surveyor 
 place the level and measure all terrestrial heights 
 and depths. And, gentlemen of this convention, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 
 
 when the fervor of our enthusiasm has passed, when 
 the passion of the moment has subsided, it is that 
 calm level of public opinion below the enthusiasm, 
 below the passion, from which the great thoughts of 
 a mighty people are to be measured, and by which 
 they are to be judged." 
 
 As Garfield ceased speaking it was as if the great 
 concourse before him, for an instant, was restrained 
 by the echo of his sober truths. There was a pause 
 it might have been the calm he spoke of then 
 they rose, and paid to him the tribute, deserved by 
 his thought and skill and by the name of Sherman 
 whom he nominated. 
 
 " Mr. Devlin," said Molly that evening Jimmy 
 had come in immediately after dinner " Why didn t 
 you get Mr. Conkling to make your speech? " 
 
 " Th speech, you mean, for Mr. Elaine? Well, do 
 you know, I didn t even think of asking him. Gen 
 eral Grant got him first, anyhow." 
 
 Molly was abashed for a moment by the laugh 
 which followed, but then she went on, " Of course, 
 I know that Mr. Conkling wouldn t have spoken for 
 anyone but Grant. I only meant that you should 
 have had some one make a speech like his for Mr. 
 Elaine. Even Mr. Garfield spoke better than that 
 Mr. Mr. " 
 
 " Joy? Yes, Garfield did make a good speech. Do 
 you know, I liked Garfield s speech best of all." 
 
 " Why? " asked Mrs. Chambers. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 324 
 
 " Well, I can t say exactly. But it seemed to 
 strike just th right note. There s lots of reasons 
 why. But I won t prophesy. Only this Grant 
 and Blaine fight is going to be th hottest yet, and th 
 
 man who talks like Garfield does " He halted 
 
 suddenly. " There s such a thing as a dark horse," 
 he finished. 
 
 " You mean that Mr. Garfield might be nomi 
 nated? " put in Molly. " Why, he isn t even " 
 
 " I don t say anything," he interrupted, with the 
 air of one who fears he will say too much. " It s 
 too early in th day. And don t say that I mentioned 
 Garfield. It might get me into trouble." 
 
 At that moment there was a knock, and Jimmy, 
 who was nearest to the door, opened it. A waiter 
 held out a silver tray; on it was a visiting card. 
 " Mr. Doran," said the waiter. 
 
 Jimmy s eyes had fallen on the card. He picked it 
 up, said " All right," to the waiter, closed the door 
 behind the latter, and laughed. " That trick didn t 
 work," he said hastily. " I told em downstairs 
 that, if anyone wanted me, I would be in Jack s 
 room, and to send any message for me to Mr. 
 Doran. It was meant to be a joke on Jack, but it s 
 turned out one on me. Jack s in th writing room, 
 isn t he? Yes? Well, excuse me a minute, please. 
 Some one s come to see me." He opened the door, 
 and passed out. 
 
 But, almost on the threshold stood the man who 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 325 
 
 had sent up his card. He had followed on the 
 waiter s heels, fearing some rebuff. It was Marcus 
 Doran. His face wore a smooth smile. " Just in 
 time to have you introduce me to your to Jack s 
 friends," he remarked. 
 
 Jimmy was twisting the card in his fingers. Out 
 of the tail of his eye he saw Mr. Chambers and 
 Molly looking at them through the open doorway. 
 Marcus saw them, too, and took a step forward. He 
 was bent on mischief, Jimmy saw that. Suddenly 
 he grasped Marcus s hand, and said aloud, " Glad to 
 see you! Come in, and let me present you to my 
 friends." In a whisper he added, " Twenty dollars 
 if you ll be Brown of my ward, and say nothing! " 
 
 " I ll take fifty," whispered Marcus in return, and 
 stepped into the room. 
 
 " All right," said Jimmy softly, and went on 
 aloud, turning to Mr. Chambers, " I want to make 
 you known to Mr. George Brown, one of my delega 
 tion. He s just brought me a message, and has got 
 to go on at once. 
 
 Marcus played his part well. He bowed, and said 
 something to Mr. Chambers. He ran his eye around 
 the room. His glance rested for an instant on Molly. 
 A shade of disappointment betrayed that he had 
 expected to come face to face with Jack. Then 
 Jimmy said, " Well, Brown, I guess you ll have to 
 hustle right off. I ll go down to the door with you," 
 and Marcus knew this was the signal to go, and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 326 
 
 made his exit a little reluctantly. Jimmy followed 
 him. 
 
 When the door had closed behind them Jimmy 
 pulled out a roll of bills. He gave Marcus two 
 twenty dollar notes an a ten. " Now," he said, 
 " Go ! And, if you let it out that you re Jack s father, 
 or try to meet those people something II happen. 
 There s a crowd of toughs in this town ; lots of acci 
 dents could happen to you for less than you ve just 
 got from me." 
 
 Marcus scowled and contrived a laugh. But it 
 had an empty sound. To be sure he had fifty 
 dollars in his hand, but he also had a realizing sense 
 of what was meant by the expression on the other s 
 face. Jimmy was in a corner, and Marcus knew 
 that Jimmy in a corner was not to be defied. He 
 went out of the hotel, Jimmy returned to the 
 room. 
 
 A few minutes later Jack entered, and Molly told 
 him of the man they had just met. " I didn t much 
 like his looks," she said in a whisper, " And it was 
 so funny for Mr. Devlin to bring him in and intro 
 duce him in that way." She described the visitor, 
 asking him if he had ever seen him. 
 
 The color left Jack s cheeks, and he stammered, 
 " I m not sure, but I guess," Suddenly, an impulse, 
 born of shame of his own weakness, made him lift 
 his head, and begin, in a louder voice, " Yes, I know 
 him. He is " 
 
/. DEVLIN BOSS 327 
 
 Jimmy s voice broke in. " Of course, you know 
 him, Jack. You ve seen him often enough. It was 
 George Brown of my ward." His eyes were fixed 
 on Jack. They forbade him to speak. The latter s 
 confusion returned to him. He hesitated, and the 
 moment for speaking was gone. Jimmy said over 
 his shoulder, " Jack, go up to your room, and get 
 that letter I wanted to see." 
 
 " Jack doesn t approve of some of my acquaint 
 ances," he explained when the former had left the 
 room. " You noticed how mixed up he was just 
 now?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Molly slowly. "I didn t care 
 much for that Mr. Brown myself : but I don t think 
 he ought to be ashamed of your friends. A politician 
 has to know all sorts of people." 
 
 " Yes," said Jimmy; "and some of them aren t 
 what he d choose. But he doesn t like to offend them. 
 You understand. So, please don t say anything to 
 Jack about that man Brown. It d only work him 
 up." 
 
 " No, I won t," she answered. But she did not 
 appear to be entirely satisfied, and, for the first and 
 only time, Jimmy anathematized those bright, blue 
 eyes. 
 
 When the fifth day of the Convention opened it 
 was freely predicted by those who should have 
 known that Grant would be nominated before a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 328 
 
 dozen ballots were taken. It was argued that the 
 large, steady vote which " The Strong Man " was 
 known to have pledged to his cause would resist all 
 attacks and would be untouched by the desertions 
 which would weaken the ranks of the opposition as a 
 result of a failure to nominate a man at an early 
 hour. The opposition to Grant was divided, and, 
 in every case but one, supported men whose chance 
 of being nominated was apparently too slight to 
 sustain long the hopes of followers. 
 
 On the other hand, the Elaine people argued that 
 their allegiance was fully as determined as that of 
 the partisans of Grant; and that, besides, there 
 was a personal antipathy to Grant, which, 
 coupled with the prejudice against a third term, 
 would effectually prevent any alliance of the smaller 
 factions with the General s advocates. Aged Hanni 
 bal Hamlin was quoted as saying, " Grant s follow 
 ers are boastful; I believe we hold the cards/ 
 
 So it happened that, when Mr. Chambers and his 
 party left the Convention on June sixth, twenty- 
 eight ballots had been taken for a Presidential nomi 
 nee; and the Grant and Elaine forces still locked 
 horns. The final ballot was 307 for Grant; 279 for 
 Elaine. The other candidates had had but slight 
 support ; Garfield bringing up the rear with a compli 
 mentary vote or two. 
 
 Molly chaffed Jimmy when they saw him for a 
 minute after the Convention adjourned for the day. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 329 
 
 " Poor Mr. Garfield ! " she said. " He only had two 
 friends." 
 
 Jimmy wagged his head. " It doesn t look like 
 Garfield now," he admitted. " But it doesn t look 
 like Elaine either," he added with mock melancholy. 
 
 " They certainly haven t made much progress," 
 remarked Mr. Chambers. 
 
 " More haste, less speed/ " quoted Jimmy, and 
 went on, " But a night of thinking often works 
 wonders. It will be somebody to-morrow I feel it 
 in my bones. We mean that it shall be Elaine." 
 
 "And, if not him, then Mr. Garfield?" inter 
 rogated Molly. 
 
 " Garfield or somebody else," said Jimmy, 
 slipping out of the trap without appearing to notice 
 it. He winked with the air of imparting a tremen 
 dous secret. 
 
 That night Jimmy was one of those at a small 
 meeting of the Elaine leaders in a hotel room. At 
 this meeting many possibilities were discussed. The 
 Massachusetts delegation was said to be ready to 
 make a bolt, if any likely third candidate should 
 come out of obscurity. Two other delegations, it 
 was rumored, were of similar inclinations. The 
 Elaine leaders decided to hold to their candidate ; but 
 in extremity, to take advantage of any chance which 
 should arise to head off Grant, even if they were 
 forced to abandon their own man in so doing. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 330 
 
 Six ballots had been taken on the next day when 
 this chance came. On the horizon suddenly loomed 
 a third figure beside the figures of Grant and Elaine 
 a figure that waxed from a mere pigmy to a man, 
 and then to a giant whose bulk made the Grant and 
 Elaine ranks tremble a figure that rushed to the 
 fore with great strides and, finally, made a panic of 
 what had been a stubborn, almost monotonous fight. 
 This figure sprang from that level of calm thought 
 to which a certain orator had referred, three days be 
 fore. It was the figure of the orator himself James 
 Abram Garfield. 
 
 On the thirty-fourth ballot Wisconsin gave to 
 Garfield sixteen votes, and there was a breathless 
 pause. But there the change ended for that ballot; 
 and men s hearts beat regularly once more. It was 
 not until the thirty-sixth ballot that the landslide 
 fairly started. On that ballot Alabama, Arkansas, 
 Colorado and California had voted, and it was Con 
 necticut s turn. Then came the announcement, 
 
 "Eleven for Garfield!" 
 
 A tremor ran through the rows of seated delegates 
 and stirred the thousands of spectators. The hall 
 was hushed ; men caught their breath, and watched ; 
 fluttering fans came to an abrupt pause. Men who 
 were walking froze in their tracks. The break had 
 started the race was on between the Ohioan and his 
 two great rivals. 
 
 Indiana s chairman arose, and declared, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 331 
 
 "Ten for Garfield ! " 
 
 Instantly the hush was broken. Ten thousand men 
 and women were on their feet, many of them know 
 ing not why. The roar of voices beat on the roof 
 and sides of the building, and was flung back again 
 upon its sponsors to deafen them and be sent forth 
 redoubled in volume and frenzy. Then came a lull 
 to hear Iowa s vote. And when the chairman s voice 
 rang out, " Iowa twenty-two for Garfield ! " again 
 and mightier, reverberated the bellowing chorus of 
 shouts and whistles and stamping feet and smitten 
 hands. 
 
 But it was not all noisy demonstration. Down 
 among the delegates Jimmy had sprung to his feet, 
 and was bending over the Chairman of the Maine 
 delegation. " Now s th time to defeat Grant ! " he 
 cried in the other s ear. " Are you with us? " 
 
 There was a hurried consultation of the Maine 
 delegates, and Jimmy ran back to his seat. As he 
 reached it a tall man pressed to his side. He was 
 a New Yorker ; he asked Jimmy a question. " We 
 are twenty-one strong for Garfield. You had better 
 fall in line," was Jimmy s quick reply. The New 
 Yorker nodded, and sped back to his delegation. 
 
 Then fell another silence on the audience to hear 
 the votes proclaimed; and, in swift succession, 
 Maine, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
 declared for Garfield, in part or whole, after each 
 announcement bursting forth anew the united yells 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 332 
 
 of those thousands, now almost crazed by the growth 
 of this great movement. 
 
 Banners from all sides flung a canopy over the 
 sober, bearded man who, while every echo caught up 
 his name, sat as one among his fellow men, appar 
 ently unmoved except for the flashing of his wide- 
 open eyes and the tremor of the hands which rested 
 on his knees. Then, full and strong rose the old 
 Grant song "We ll rally round the Flag, Boys"; 
 and, hardly had its last notes died, when, from where 
 the band was stationed, clashed from brass and drum 
 the strains of " See, the Conquering Hero Comes ! " 
 
 For twenty minutes drum and brass strove to 
 make themselves heard above the storms of applause. 
 Men yelled and stamped; women clapped and 
 laughed, and some wept. Everywhere above the 
 heads of the delegates tossed banners and waving 
 arms and high-flung hats. When it was all over, be 
 sieged by scores of hands that would grasp his, or, at 
 least, touch his coat, James A. Garfield stood up 
 the nominee of his party for President by 399 votes 
 of the 755 cast. Grant s faithful 306 stood by him to 
 the last the remaining honor to the vanquished. 
 
 As Mr. Chambers s party made their way slowly 
 out of the struggling crowd of spectators Jack re 
 marked, " Jimmy as much as told us that Garfield 
 would be nominated." 
 
 " Yes," returned Molly. " He must have known 
 that Blaine would be defeated. He said what he did, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 333 
 
 I suppose, just to make it seem that he wasn t disap 
 pointed. Poor Jimmy!" 
 
 But Jimmy did not look disconsolate when, at five 
 o clock that afternoon, he got on a car with his dele 
 gation to start homeward. Elaine had lost, to be 
 sure; but Grant had been defeated, too. And, what 
 was more than all else to Jimmy, he had asserted his 
 domination. Corson and- Mabie had failed to crush 
 him. What share his State had had in Garfield s 
 victory belonged in fact to " J. Devlin Boss." 
 
 " Curse him ! " snapped Senator Corson that 
 night. " If it hadn t been for Devlin, I believe, we d 
 have put through Grant at the start. We ll have to 
 swallow him for a while as long as he s on top. 
 But when I get the chance to pay him for this I ll 
 make him remember my name and this day." 
 
BOOK 
 
 THREE* 
 
CHAPTER XVII 337 
 
 *CT M going into politics!" Marcus Doran had 
 H laid his hat on Jimmy s desk in " Back," 
 and drawn up a chair. 
 
 Jimmy sat behind the desk, a dash more of gray at 
 the temples, a few more lines in the net-work at the 
 corners of his eyes, a trifle more stocky of body, 
 otherwise, the soberly-garbed, clean-shaven, alert 
 Jimmy who, two years before, had helped to 
 defeat Grant for the Presidential nomination. He 
 gave a start at Marcus s statement, shot a look into 
 the latter s face, and comprehended enough to pre 
 pare him for a bigger demand than any yet. But 
 he made no reply, merely closing his hands under the 
 edge of the desk. 
 
 " I m going into politics ! " again said Marcus. 
 
 "Yes, what is it?" demanded Jimmy. 
 
 " Councilman ! " 
 
 For an instant Jimmy was sure that he could not 
 have heard aright. Then he laughed ; the humor of 
 the proposition was irresistible. 
 
 " Laugh if you ve a mind to," remarked Marcus 
 testily. " When you get over your fit I ll go on. 
 I m glad you think it s funny. I was afraid you 
 might take it hard," he added sarcastically. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 338 
 
 Jimmy was sobered, not by Marcus s words, but 
 by a sense of his own impotence. He leaned for 
 ward. " Whatever I think," he said; "You re a 
 fool to come to me with such an idea. That s all 
 there is to it." 
 
 " Not by a long shot. It s only th beginning. 
 I m going into Councils, and you re going to put me 
 there." 
 
 " Am I ? " said Jimmy doggedly. 
 
 " Yes, you are, aren t you ? Tell me, if you ain t. 
 For, then, I ll have something else to attend to; and 
 quick." 
 
 For a minute the two men looked at each other 
 in silence. Marcus was enjoying what he knew was 
 passing in Jimmy s head, for all of those unwinking, 
 blue eyes. 
 
 Jimmy was going over the old struggle with him 
 self ; at first trying not to listen to his heart s voice, 
 then listening to nothing else. He had ceased to 
 speculate upon the audacity and relentlessness of the 
 man in front of him. He was almost appalled by his 
 own helplessness. Yet his mind was busy, all the 
 while, trying to discover a way to escape. He fore 
 saw in this what would be worse than a humiliation. 
 Here, instinct told him, was something that menaced 
 his welfare. ^ 
 
 " Marcus Doran," he said ; " what you ask for I 
 can t give. There is but one place to be filled at this 
 election by a new man Murray s." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 339 
 
 " That s th place I want. Murray told me he was 
 going to retire he comes from my ward." 
 
 Jimmy saw things more definitely now. " He 
 put you up to this/ he declared. " I understand. 
 But he didn t tell you that he had to retire, did he? 
 He didn t tell you that he made his place too hot to 
 hold him that th Citizens League and every inde 
 pendent voter demands a man for his seat in Councils 
 who will have clean hands? " 
 
 " No, but I don t need to know that. What I 
 want is th nomination for th place." 
 
 " Which I can t give you. I will tell you this it 
 may convince you : I ve promised Gans of th League 
 not to put up a man like Murray for that place. And 
 you know, I keep my word." 
 
 " That was before you had promised to give me th 
 place," said Marcus evenly. 
 
 " But I haven t promised you." 
 
 " It s th same thing. You made up your mind 
 to give me whatever I asked for long ago. Any 
 way, you d rather have that gang of reformers down 
 on you than me ; now, wouldn t you? " 
 
 Jimmy s eyes dilated, then the pupils became mere 
 points. But he said quietly, " I couldn t elect you, if 
 you were nominated." 
 
 " You can now/ with a pretence of reasoning 
 which was like the play of the cat with the mouse. 
 " Two years ago, with Walsh and Showell against 
 you, you d have had some trouble. But you shook 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 340 
 
 hands with them six months ago. It s th Three 
 Czars again which is lucky for me. All you have 
 to do is to say th word and stick to it. Th reformers 
 can raise a row and make you hustle; but your man 
 that s me, you know will go into Councils, just 
 th same." 
 
 It was the situation on its face. Jimmy leaned 
 back in his chair, and thought. He had felt almost 
 sure at the start that it was a waste of time to ex 
 plain difficulties. Marcus did not know that there 
 were influences at work which threatened the domi 
 nation of the Three Czars; he would not care, if 
 he was told. It was nothing to him that the reform 
 movement was slowly but surely making headway, 
 and that Jimmy s concession in the matter of a candi 
 date for Con Murray s seat in City Councils was only 
 one of several compromises which he was making or 
 about to make with the aim of silencing public 
 clamor against his dictation. It would not dissuade 
 him to learn that Jimmy s political safety de 
 pended on appeasing the reformers and dividing 
 their leaders while they were yet without a thorough 
 organization and a popular battle-cry. These would 
 be but abstractions to this man whose slouching 
 figure, shifty eyes, puffy lids, fleshy nose and loose 
 lips told of a life as gross as it was selfish. The 
 single fact which had weight with him was: He 
 wanted Murray s place which Jimmy could give to 
 him. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 341 
 
 Through Jimmy s brain flashed in quick suc 
 cession the probable consequences of compliance 
 with this demand. Marcus and Murray hand-in 
 g-love, the first more knave than the other, less om 
 nivorous in his appetite, but likely, under the circum 
 stances, to be more unscrupulous and more danger 
 ous. Gans and his people angered by this new out 
 rage to a pitch compared to which their indignation 
 of the present was something to be laughed at. Mar 
 cus, secure in his position because his sponsor was 
 helpless. The outlook fairly made him gasp. " You 
 fool ! " he cried, unable to repress his rage. 
 
 Marcus passed over the epithet. " Am I to have 
 th place ? " he returned steadily. He began to 
 whistle. 
 
 In an outburst of anger Jimmy struck the desk 
 violently. " I ll see you damned first ! " he shouted. 
 
 " Then that s got to happen between now and next 
 November," returned Marcus. " For I ll have Mur 
 ray s seat or none. And, now that I think of it, ten 
 thousand a year, until I say I ve had enough is my 
 price to withdraw as a candidate." 
 
 Jimmy had regained command of himself. His 
 eyes narrowed. If Marcus had been any less 
 secure in his position he would have quailed be 
 neath the cold fire that shone from beneath those 
 lowered lids. As it was he began to inspect his 
 finger nails with an appearance of unconcern. 
 
 Jimmy watched him; and, when he spoke, it was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 342 
 
 with a knowledge that he must surrender. To begin 
 to bribe him with money was to open the door to 
 endless and ever-increasing calls from which no 
 plan or accident but death, could relieve him, Mur 
 ray s seat in Councils was the alternative. Bad as 
 this alternative was, it seemed the choice of evils. 
 Something might happen to restrain or cripple Mar 
 cus as a Council maa, 
 
 u If this place was yours, what would you do in 
 it?" he asked. 
 
 Marcus laughed, " What do you think? " he re- 
 turnedo " See that I got all that was coming to 
 me, and yes and come and get orders, like th 
 rest, from my boss." Alluding to Jimmy as his 
 " boss " tickled Marcus. He laughed again. 
 
 But Jimmy s face was stolid, " Then you may as 
 well know now that there ll be th biggest fight yet 
 if your name s put up/ he said, " I can have you 
 nominated perhaps; that s all Cans and th Citi 
 zens League 11 never rest till they down you. You 
 want to succeed a man who made his place too hot to 
 hold him a man worth a dozen like you. And th 
 people that s against him, if they don t know it 
 already, 11 soon find that out. They ll be against 
 you ; can t you see that ? " 
 
 " My election ain t worrying me" replied Marcus, 
 " I ll leave everything to you, I know you d hate to 
 see me disappointed " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 343 
 
 Jimmy leaned back, and fixed the other with his 
 gaze, " Marcus Doran," he said in a level voice, 
 " You re a dirty coward as low a hound as I 
 guess there ll ever be. Some day I ll get th chance 
 to treat you like th cur you are. When I do as 
 there s a God above me ! I ll make you wish hell had 
 opened up for you before you ever met me. Now, 
 get out of here! Get out before I forget something 
 and close my fingers on your throat! I ll give you 
 th answer you want at th end of th week. And 
 you if you care to have that place, keep your mouth 
 shut tight I " 
 
 Marcus s sallow face was triumphant, " I knew 
 you d do what I asked," he remarked, 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, of the week following 
 he got his answer from Jimmy, Jimmy promised 
 him the nomination, and added that he would be 
 defeated at the polls. But Marcus was little troubled 
 by the prophecy. It was an empty threat, he said to 
 himselfo The nomination would never have been 
 promised if Jimmy had not arranged that he should 
 be elected, 
 
 Nor did any one know this better than Jimmy. 
 For six days he had plotted and devised expedients 
 only to cast them aside ; for six nights he had given 
 his brain no rest but that which exhaustion com 
 pelled. There was no subterfuge, no bait, no threat 
 which his fertile brain suggested that his knowledge 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 344 
 
 of Marcus s character and his understanding of his 
 own position did not make him discard as worse than 
 useless. So he surrendered. 
 
 Marcus went from his presence the words still 
 ringing in his ears, " Keep your mouth shut 
 about this or you ll be done for ! " And the first 
 thing he did, thereafter, was to hunt up Con 
 Murray, and tell him of the result of his demand; 
 and the second thing he did was to get very drunk. 
 
 Could Jimmy have foreseen the fruit of this last 
 folly it is certain that Marcus would have spent the 
 twenty-four hours immediately succeeding in a cell 
 at the nearest station house* If Marcus had been 
 less intoxicated by his latest success, it is likely that 
 his other intoxication would have been less disas 
 trous. As the thing fell out, swaggering along the 
 street that evening, he encountered Cans whom he 
 knew by sight and reputation, and was seized with 
 a fit of drunken braggadocio. He stepped in front of 
 Cans, and laid a hand on the latter s arm. 
 
 " Misher Cans ! Misher Cans ! " he said; " Misher 
 Cans, you re very slily. But I m shly, too ; and I m 
 goin t be a Counshilman, Me an Murray fixshed t 
 all up, and Jimmy shays ish all right But don t tell 
 anybody. Don t tell anybody/ 
 
 Cans threw off the hand that detained him, and 
 regarded Marcus with mixed disgust and incredu 
 lity. Marcus stood wagging his head, and repeating, 
 " But don t tell anybody, Ish a secret, a secret." 
 
J. DEVLINBOSS 345 
 
 Then Cans turned and walked on. But Marcus s 
 words continued to sound in his ears ; and, the longer 
 he thought on them, the more persistent became the 
 suspicion that they were not mere drunken babble. 
 The next morning he called on Jimmy with a ques 
 tion; and what followed was said in few words, but 
 those words very much to the point 
 
 That evening there was a hurriedly called meeting 
 of the Citizens League, and the next afternoon an 
 interview in the open air. This took place on the 
 steps of the Colonial Club, the best known of the 
 semi-political clubs; and was, so some public com 
 mentators assert, the immediate cause of an upheaval 
 which changed the entire political aspect of a muni 
 cipality. 
 
 Be that as it may, Jimmy in that interview forgot 
 his caution and acted on impulse ; and the effect was 
 remarkable. 
 
 He was mounting the steps of the club when he 
 heard his name spoken, and turned, A foot below 
 him a man had halted. He was of slender build, 
 with a vivid complexion and wore an imperial and 
 had snapping eyes. Jimmy recognized him at once 
 for Thomas Claghorn, a wealthy lawyer and an 
 officer of the Citizens League, a man with a repu 
 tation for fearlessness and a biting tongue. 
 
 Jimmy asked Claghorn if he had called him 
 
 " Yes, I did," answered Claghorn ; and, looking 
 Jimmy straight in the face, went on slowly and dis- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 346 
 
 tinctly, " James Devlin, I ve heard that your word 
 was as good as your bond; and, until I gave that 
 Statement a trial, I was ready to believe that it might 
 be so." He paused as if to let the words sink in. 
 
 Jimmy was standing at ease, his arms hanging 
 loosely at his sides, a smile on his lips. He expected 
 a caustic comment; but Claghorn s introductory re 
 mark was a little too sharp; and his smile hard 
 ened. Half a dozen men had come up, seeing that 
 something unpleasant was on. 
 
 " I said I believed that you spoke the truth until I 
 put your word to the test," repeated Claghorn in a 
 clear voice. " But we ve tried you on this business 
 of a Councilman; and now I want to tell you that 
 the story of your truthfulness came from those who 
 were afraid of you, and I m not one of them. 
 James Devlin, you re a liar ! " 
 
 Jimmy s figure became tense, his head went back 
 with a jerk. It was as if he had got a blow in the 
 face. The next instant he leaned forward, and 
 struck Claghorn across the mouth. 
 
 The blow knocked him down, and Jimmy looked 
 at him a moment, then turned, and walked slowly 
 down the steps and up the street without a backward 
 glance. 
 
 Claghorn was helped to his feet, white and almost 
 speechless with rage. He passed quickly into the 
 Club ; and there, the incident itself was closed. 
 
 But the blow was like a spark to dry prairie 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 347 
 
 grass. In twenty-four hours the tale of it was in 
 everyone s mouth. The city rang with exaggerations 
 of the encounter. Wavering allegiance to Jimmy, 
 in many cases was changed to opposition ; opposition 
 to enmity ; enmity to an open declaration of war. It 
 was as if every political reformer had been struck 
 in the face. The reform organizations were stiffened 
 asnd galvanized into an activity such as never before 
 had been known. And the supreme manifestation of 
 this was the birth of the famous " Committee of 
 Fifty." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 348 
 
 THE encounter on the steps of the Colonial 
 Club was fully described in the newspapers. 
 Jack, on his way down town in the street 
 car the next morning, came upon this heading on 
 the first page of his paper: 
 
 CALLED DEVLIN A LIAR!! 
 
 Lawyer Thomas Claghorn Knocked 
 
 Down by J. Devlin Boss on the 
 
 Steps of the Colonial Club ! ! 
 
 FIGHT OVER COUNCILMANIC CANDIDATE!! 
 
 The "Three Czars " Go Back on Their Promise 
 
 to the Citizens League and Prepare to Put 
 
 Another Rascal in Con Murray s Place 1 1 
 
 MARCUS DORAN IS HIS NAME!! 
 
 The paper shook in Jack s hands. He first 
 thought that this was a political canard. The idea 
 of Jimmy striking anyone in itself was almost in 
 credible. That his father was a candidate for City 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 349 
 
 Councils astounded him. But the miserable truth 
 was patent when he had read the column of descrip 
 tion and interviews. Jimmy had refused to be in 
 terviewed. Claghorn had made a brief statement. 
 The story showed conclusively that the lie had been 
 given and the blow struck solely because Jimmy had 
 changed his mind and decided to give a seat in 
 Councils to Jack repeated to himself, " to my 
 father." 
 
 All that day he asked himself questions which he 
 could not answer. Why had Jimmy taken up his 
 father as a candidate? They were not friends; 
 Jimmy could gain nothing by it. It had aroused 
 tremendous opposition. It had brought shame on 
 his mother and himself. If he had trusted Jimmy 
 less he would have felt bitterly toward him. He 
 would have asked him for facts, but Jimmy was 
 grimly silent and made no allusion to the subject. 
 
 Neither did Jack speak to his mother of what he 
 had read. At the supper-table they both talked 
 rapidly. He noticed her regarding him with wor 
 ried, weary eyes. Instinctively he knew her wish. 
 As time passed and she made no reference to what 
 she must have read, as he did, almost daily, an 
 understanding grew up between them. Each felt 
 the other s sympathy though no word was ex 
 changed. 
 
 But Jack did a great deal of thinking. Scarcely 
 a day went by that his father was not pilloried as a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 350 
 
 man without principle and of dissolute habits. They 
 raked up facts of which Jack had never heard, though 
 he could not make himself disbelieve them. Jimmy 
 was called a sponsor of rogues. The attacks were 
 confined to three papers, but they were vehement 
 and persistent. Again and again, he overheard re 
 marks in the street cars, on corners and at the Bank 
 which voiced the public indignation. His father was 
 held up to contempt and censure by those whom the 
 community esteemed most. 
 
 It did not surprise him, for he had no reason to 
 regard his father in a more favorable light. Nor 
 did he believe that it caused his mother anything 
 but shame for the name she bore, a shame in which 
 he shared. His father, all at once, became to him an 
 inevitable, miserable fact. His brooding made him 
 draw more and more within himself. 
 
 But what preyed on him most was the question, 
 What would Molly think? Could she forget whose 
 son he was? Would she be allowed to forget it if 
 she wished to ? Was this to be the end of the friend 
 ship which meant so much to him? His only con 
 solation was that she was away from home. Per 
 haps, something would happen before she returned 
 to lighten his shame, or make it forgotten. But noth 
 ing did happen and one bright, hot day in June he 
 got a note in the early mail which brought him at 
 once face to face with his happiness and his cruel 
 doubts. The note was as follows: 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 351 
 
 " DEAR JACK : 
 
 " We got home to-day. I am aching to tell you 
 all about our trip and other things. I want to ask 
 you a lot of questions. I hear that you now wear a 
 beard and eye-glasses no, spectacles. And lean on 
 a cane? I must see for myself. I have been all 
 round the world since I saw you last two years 
 ago My, what a long time! but I haven t seen 
 anyone who is such fun to tease as you. Come up 
 to-morrow afternoon at half-past four. The house 
 is open for a few days. Then we go to the sea 
 shore for the rest of the summer. Give my love to 
 Jimmy. Yours, 
 
 " MOLLY STRUTHERS/ 
 
 Jack read and reread that note until he could have 
 repeated it backward from memory. Then his own 
 position flashed upon him; and almost straightway, 
 a strange thing happened. He ceased to torment 
 himself with questions, and made up his mind to 
 have the uncertainty over with at once. He would 
 tell her everything; he would tell her all that had 
 occurred to him while she was away; ne would tell 
 her the truth about that meeting with his father in 
 the Chicago hotel. Then he would know what to 
 do. There was never less of his father in him, 
 never more of his mother, than at this moment. For 
 the rest of the working day he went about his duties 
 with fresh strength. If Molly was dearer to him 
 than ever before, he also felt a new, great trust in her 
 now that he was to put his happiness into her hands 
 
J. DEVLINBOSS 352 
 
 for aye or nay. Between the teasing, light-hearted 
 lines of the little note in his pocket he was able to 
 read a true, steady faith in himself. It made him 
 steadfast in his determination to be honest with her 
 and with himself. In the time since he had seen 
 her last he had come to look at everything more 
 earnestly. 
 
 With her family she had gone abroad the summer 
 following the Chicago Convention, and he had re 
 ceived intermittent letters from her from all sorts of 
 places. But the intervals between these letters had 
 steadily increased after Dick Gans joined the travel 
 ers in Geneva. Then, Tom Rowell told him one 
 day that Ellen Harper, who had been with the Cham 
 bers in Berlin, wrote that Molly and Dick were said 
 to be engaged, but that it wouldn t be announced till 
 autumn. For some time after this Jack believed that 
 all the bitterness of life was his. He contemplated 
 a dozen desperate deeds; but he did nothing worse 
 than throw away a few dollars on the stock market 
 with a wild idea of becoming suddenly rich, and 
 flaunting his wealth before the heartless and envious 
 Mrs. Richard Gans. When Molly s engagement was 
 not announced and he got a letter from her and then 
 others, he plucked up heart. All was not lost yet. 
 But the crisis did him good. It put him in closer 
 touch with his real self, it revealed to him his 
 strength and weakness it steadied him. If it 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 353 
 
 tended to make him less impulsive, it also made him 
 look at himself and others with saner judgment. 
 
 But it was hard to be calm, and trustful and 
 staunch to his promise to himself when he saw her. 
 In that room he knew so well with its polished floors, 
 darkened windows and linen-draped furniture all 
 was gratefully cool; the sight of the big fire-place 
 brought remembrance of so many happy hours 
 which might never be enjoyed again. It seemed to 
 him as if he had left the mournful realities of his 
 position together with the glare and heat of the day 
 outside. Here all was quiet and contentment. 
 Molly, in a dotted muslin dress with gay bows, 
 brought with her a fragrant freshness. It steeped 
 his nostrils. He fed his eyes on her. A stray sun 
 beam, slanting through the shutters, fell upon her 
 head and pilfered the gold from her hair so that a 
 ladder of dancing motes reached the window. 
 
 She had changed a little. Her figure was more 
 rounded; the riches of young womanhood crowned 
 her. Her eyes were deeper and shaded by a sweet 
 seriousness ; her manner touched by an illusive some 
 thing which made her more piquant.. This was all 
 that two years had added to the picture which he had 
 been carrying in his heart. 
 
 She drew her hand out of his a trifle more quickly 
 than she had been wont to do, but the ring of com 
 mand which was in her voice as she bade him sit 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 354 
 
 down and tell her everything, was as dear to him as 
 in the past. 
 
 It was so easy to slip into their old confidences. 
 He was watching her eager eyes, listening to her 
 laughing reminiscences untroubled, forgetful of 
 everything else before he realized that his resolves 
 were passing from him. It was harder than ever 
 then to throw off the spell of her enchantment and 
 his hopes, and look at the truth. It was yet harder 
 to point this out to her. 
 
 Then she suddenly asked, " Now, how about all 
 of my friends here? I have been talking so much 
 that I didn t let you tell me anything. How is 
 Jimmy? " 
 
 " All right," he answered. Her question was a 
 tonic to his purpose. It seemed to him to whisper, 
 "Now is the time! Tell her! Tell her!" He 
 braced himself, and went on, " Jimmy is very busy; 
 he has a big political fight on his hands. Have you 
 heard of it?" 
 
 " Uncle Will said something of it last night. He 
 spoke of a committee of citizens which was being 
 formed to fight against Jimmy! But I didn t 
 realize that it was Jimmy then. What has he 
 done." 
 
 "He? Nothing," returned Jack slowly. "At 
 least, Jimmy is only what he has always been a 
 Boss. But a lot of people seem to be bent on ruining 
 him," 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 355 
 
 " To drive him out of politics? What a shame! " 
 
 " Do you think it is a shame? " 
 
 " Yes, of course, I do. What a question to ask 
 one of his friends ! " 
 
 " You don t think, then, because so many people 
 are down on him, that he and the men he stands 
 for are all bad?" 
 
 " You know I don t think Jimmy s bad. You ve 
 heard Uncle Will say that he didn t think so either. 
 Why, Uncle s refused to join that committee to 
 fight him. I heard him say so last night. But that s 
 a secret." 
 
 " Your Uncle refused? " exclaimed Jack. He had 
 heard reports of this Committee of Fifty to conduct 
 the fight for reform ; if Mr. Chambers had declined 
 to join it, he must have some sympathy with Jimmy 
 and those he represented. He asked eagerly, " What 
 did your Uncle say ? I mean, why didn t he go into 
 the committee? " 
 
 " He was too busy, he said ; and he didn t care to 
 be drawn into politics. But, I think, another reason 
 was because he knows Jimmy and is interested in 
 him." 
 
 " Interested/ yes, that was the word," Jack said 
 silently. He should have known better than to be 
 buoyed up by the chance that it was deeper feeling. 
 ;< Your Uncle doesn t care for politics except to 
 talk about them," he forced himself to say. 
 
 "No," replied Molly frankly; "I don t think he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 356 
 
 does. He likes to be well informed. As for anything 
 more well, you see most politicians aren t aren t 
 the same as Jimmy. We re awfully democratic here, 
 as you know ; but there are limits." She laughed. 
 
 " Yes, there are limits," echoed Jack. She did 
 not detect the hard note in his voice, and went on, 
 " Don t you remember some of those men at Chicago 
 the kind we saw shoving each other around in the 
 hotel lobbies and marching and shouting. That s the 
 kind I mean. Imagine them here ! in this house ! " 
 She laughed again. " It s absurd to think of it, isn t 
 it? They d be putting their feet on the chairs and 
 doing all sorts of things worse than that. No, I 
 don t think Aunt and Uncle could stand them, no 
 matter how hard they might try to be polite." 
 
 Jack stiffened his muscles; he felt as if he was 
 about to take an icy plunge, yet the blood burned 
 his neck and cheeks. "Yes," he said, aimlessly; 
 " I remember the men you mean. That was a fine 
 trip, though." 
 
 " Wasn t it ? " she agreed with enthusiasm. 
 " The Convention ! and Mr. Conkling ! and Mr. Gar- 
 field! And the delegates! We had a splendid 
 time." She went on to recall some of the things 
 which had happened. 
 
 Suddenly, Jack sat up straightly, and checked her 
 with the words, " But there was one thing happened 
 at Chicago which I was very sorry for." 
 
 "What was it?" she inquired. Her eyes were 
 
J. DEVLINBOSS 357 
 
 wide open with wonderment. She saw his face fill 
 with pain; her own softened. " Why, what s the 
 matter, Jack? " she asked. 
 
 "I lied to you at ChicagoYes, I did." He 
 spoke hurriedly. " Do you remember a man that 
 Jimmy called Brown ? He came up to your rooms 
 and Jimmy introduced him to you." 
 
 " Yes, I think I remember him. Oh! of course, 
 I do. I said I didn t like his looks ? " 
 
 " That was my father." 
 
 " Your " Molly began. She did not go on. 
 She recalled things. Jack s confusion at the time 
 Jimmy s invention of circumstances to account for 
 this confusion and for the visit the man s sleek ap 
 pearance. She resented the deception, but in a mo 
 ment she understood that it must have been for a 
 purpose. And, wondering what this could have 
 been, she looked into Jack s face; and the purpose 
 was revealed to her. Had he not just told her that 
 his father was what he was ashamed of? Jimmy 
 must have known this, and, knowing it, have done 
 what he could to help him. 
 
 But while these things were passing through her 
 mind, Jack was speaking. " Yes, that was my 
 father." His voice was almost defiant; it was a 
 poor disguise, but the only one for his wretchedness. 
 " And he s the one who has got Jimmy into all this 
 trouble. Jimmy got in a fight over him. That com 
 mittee your uncle was asked to join was formed 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 358 
 
 because Jimmy is going to have my father elected 
 to City Councils." 
 
 " I m sorry," said Molly. She could think of 
 nothing else to say. 
 
 :< You re not as sorry as I am," he returned. " For 
 I m his son. And he s Oh, what s the use of 
 going on! It isn t interesting to you." He came 
 to a quick halt. She had said nothing ; he felt a new 
 edge of bitterness. 
 
 And still Molly said nothing. There was nothing 
 that she could say, it seemed to her. Jack was 
 driven by her silence to go on with his explanation. 
 " I told you," he said, " so that you wouldn t think 
 I was pretending to be what I wasn t. I would 
 have told you before only I never thought of it. 
 That sounds strange; but it s so it s so." 
 
 " I wish you had told me at Chicago," said 
 Molly. " It would have been so much so much 
 easier, somehow." 
 
 " Maybe it would. But I didn t tell you. I 
 didn t think so much about it then. And Jimmy 
 Jimmy is the best friend I ever had, and I just let 
 things go because he wanted them that way." 
 
 " Yes," she said. " I don t suppose he could have 
 done anything else. But, I wish, you had trusted 
 me a little." 
 
 " Trust you ? I would trust you with anything, 
 Molly. But it was my father I couldn t ! And 
 Jimmy thought so much of me he didn t see that he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 359 
 
 was doing wrong to some one else. You must for 
 give him; he didn t mean it." 
 
 " Of course, I forgive him." 
 
 "And me?" 
 
 " You ? There is nothing to forgive you for. 
 You can t help " She faltered and stopped. 
 
 His heart was sore. " No, I can t help being 
 what I am," he said. " Only I could have told you 
 the truth at the start." 
 
 " But you have told me now, and it is all right. 
 There is no use of saying anything more." 
 
 " Then you mean this is the end of it? " 
 
 " Yes, I do." 
 
 His throat was dry ; he clenched his teeth, and saw 
 that she noticed it. " It s nothing," he declared. 
 " I hoped you might say something different ; that s 
 all." 
 
 " I don t understand, Jack. I said it the best I 
 could. I wish I could tell you just how I do feel; 
 but I can t." 
 
 " I don t want you to," he answered quickly. " I 
 understand." He got to his feet somehow, so dazed 
 and miserable. " Jack! Where are you going?" 
 she said. But he did not speak, and turned toward 
 the door. 
 
 She sprang up, and laid a hand on his 
 arm. "Jack! Jack!" she cried. "Don t look 
 that way. Tell me what s the matter! Aren t we 
 friends?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 360 
 
 He shook his head; he was desperately trying to 
 lock up his sobs by pressing his lips together. " But 
 we are friends," she cried again. " You sha n t go ! 
 Sit right down ! " She pushed him, and suddenly 
 he sank back in the chair, and the tears trickled 
 between his fingers. 
 
 There is a mother in every girl s heart which has 
 only to be called to answer and pour out its comfort 
 and healing. Molly s hand yet rested on his arm; 
 and, though she said nothing, she spoke to him so 
 that his pain was soothed, his sobs abated. All at 
 once, he leaned toward her, his face and voice 
 yearning. " And we shall be friends always ? " 
 he begged. 
 
 She laid her hand in one of his, and it closed with 
 nervous clasp. Sweetness and strength and some 
 thing of his old happiness ran from her fingers 
 into his. " Molly! Molly! " he whispered. 
 
 When he went away, half an hour afterward, the 
 sun had sunk behind the houses. Long shadows 
 lay on the pavements. Sparrows, clustering in the 
 ivy-covered walls, twittered contentedly. The sky, 
 dappled with fleecy balls of cloud, edged with crim 
 son, had lost its brazen glare. A wandering breeze 
 stirred the silver poplars and swept away the swim 
 ming heat. He took off his hat; the air played 
 with his hair and cooled his head. He walked on, 
 block after block, repeating her words to himself. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 361 
 
 He thought that he understood what she had in 
 tended he should understand. 
 
 "I can be just her good friend!" he said half 
 aloud. And when he said it he meant it. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 362 
 
 **T NEED hardly say why I asked you to come 
 
 here this evening, Mr. Walsh," said Joseph 
 
 Gans. It was in his library, two weeks after 
 
 Jimmy had been given the lie, and returned a blow. 
 
 " I have an idea," answered Walsh. " You think 
 the time is come to do what we ve spoken of be 
 fore." 
 
 " Yes, Devlin has put himself in a bad hole. We 
 must take full advantage of it. But, first, are we 
 to count you on our side ? " 
 
 Walsh s smile behind his glasses might have meant 
 anything. 
 
 " You want to know where we stand ? What we 
 have to offer? Well, in the first place, as the fact 
 will be public property in a few days, I may tell 
 you that we have formed a committee of fifty citi 
 zens. They are representative men merchants, 
 lawyers, physicians and the like. They are among 
 the most influential men in the city. Here is the 
 list." 
 
 Walsh read the double sheet of foolscap in silence. 
 He folded the paper, and returned it. " It is a 
 strong list. It means a great deal," he said " if " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 363 
 
 "If we can stick together? We will. You have 
 only to listen to what is talked of in every respecta 
 ble quarter of the city to learn how widespread and 
 determined is the feeling against Devlin and his 
 methods." 
 
 " Talk/ Jimmy says, is fit only to fill toy bal 
 loons." 
 
 " But this is a different kind. You know the cali 
 bre of the men on that list; they generally accomplish 
 what they set out to do. It took a good deal to get 
 them started, I ll admit; now that they are aroused, 
 they will wage such a fight against the political 
 machine as never has been seen before." 
 
 " But they have no political experience." 
 
 " Very little. The Citizens League will do all it 
 can to supply that. For the rest we look to you 
 and, possibly, Showell." 
 
 " And if we don t see our way to join you? " 
 
 " Frankly, then, we shall fight you as well as 
 Devlin." 
 
 The two men looked at each other squarely. 
 Walsh s face was inscrutable ; it was matched by the 
 open, intelligent, earnest countenance of Cans, which, 
 having nothing to conceal in the immediate issue, 
 furnished no due to the keen inspection of the 
 other. 
 
 " If you fought Devlin, Showell and myself we 
 should beat you," declared Walsh. 
 
 " Probably, in the first encounter. But we are in 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 364 
 
 this fight to stay as long as the evils remain. We 
 shall not be deterred by a reverse." 
 
 " Devlin is your one complaint? " 
 
 " No*, but he is the chief one. We intend to teach 
 a lesson which will be remembered. We are not im 
 practicable; we are almost willing to recognize the 
 Boss as a necessity of our political system. But he 
 has got to be a Boss who is amenable to the wishes 
 of the people in some degree. Abuses like the Water 
 Trust are going to be stamped out. No man shall 
 again get a hold such as Devlin has had." 
 
 " You forget that three of us hold that position. 
 What of Showell and myself? " 
 
 " You will be with us, I hope ? " 
 
 " But after this fight is won ? " 
 
 Cans replied slowly, after a pause, " What you 
 do then remains with yourselves. If you profit by 
 the lesson taught J. Devlin Boss, you should have a 
 secure place. There is legitimate power in politics. 
 At least, what there is, is better than none at 
 all." 
 
 " You are candid," remarked Walsh drily. 
 
 " You know that I have spoken common sense. 
 I think you will be with us." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because you are an ambitious man, and because 
 you now have a choice before you. Devlin never 
 had such a chance, I daresay. He took politics as 
 he found them, and made all that he could out of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 365 
 
 them for himself. He is shrewd and a hard worker ; 
 he earned what he got, in a way. But it was earned 
 by twisting everything; he has gone so far that he 
 can t back out now." 
 
 " Which he wouldn t do, if he could." 
 
 " No, but you can, and will. Devlin is your rival. 
 I have a distinct recollection of one trick he played 
 you which serves as evidence of this. He means 
 that you shall never supersede him. Now is your 
 opportunity." 
 
 Walsh s lips made a thin line. " That is a ques 
 tion," he said. 
 
 Cans walked across the room. When he was 
 facing Walsh again, he stopped, and said, " There 
 is nothing to be gained by bandying words. You 
 know the situation; you came here with your mind 
 made up. We want you to speak out to-night. 
 Are you for, or against us ? " 
 
 " With you," answered Walsh shortly. " But in 
 secret, for the present." 
 
 " Of course. We have talked over that. No one 
 but our committee - and Showell and yourself shall 
 know that you. are not Devlin s ally, at least not 
 until the nominations are sprung. I don t like 
 treachery, but, I suppose, we must fight him with 
 every weapon we can get." 
 
 " You d be laughed at if you didn t. And Show- 
 ell and I ? We are to have a free foot in conducting 
 our end of the fight? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 366 
 
 " Entirely so, except that we must agree upon the 
 nominations." 
 
 " You are trustful/ remarked Walsh. 
 
 " I have the best reason to be so with you. I 
 know that you cannot hope to get what yo^ want 
 by betraying us to Devlin. For both you and Devlin 
 can t be supreme at the same time and you will be 
 content with nothing less than first place." 
 
 Walsh smiled ; it was a tribute to the other s pene 
 tration. 
 
 " As to Showell ? Will he be governed by your 
 decision?" Cans asked. 
 
 " Sam Showell," said Walsh, " is governed by two 
 things his stomach and his pocketbook. He can 
 satisfy the first if the second is well supplied. I 
 can show him that it will be very empty, if he doesn t 
 stick by me." 
 
 " He must be kept within bounds," returned Cans. 
 " But we must have him. He can deal with a 
 class of voters we should have a hard time to ap 
 proach." 
 
 " He will be with me. He has no reason to love 
 Jimmy, anyhow." 
 
 The two men bade each other good-night an hour 
 later. As they faced each other the contrast was 
 marked. But their respect for brains was mutual, 
 and of this they made no concealment. But, for all 
 that, each had a plan which he did not confide to the 
 other. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 367 
 
 Gans intended that the downfall of Jimmy should 
 be the beginning of a concentrated attack on Walsh, 
 if the latter, as he foresaw, attempted to revive in 
 himself the methods and domination of Jimmy. 
 
 Walsh had decided that the same downfall should 
 furnish opportunity for discarding his reform allies, 
 and, as soon as might be, declaring himself boldly 
 for what he was determined to be dictator of party 
 politics in the city. 
 
 But all this depended upon Jimmy s downfall, and 
 such a catastrophe Jimmy himself did not regard 
 with apprehension. The unique and formidable 
 revelation of the independent spirit in politics em 
 bodied in the Committee of Fifty, now with its aims 
 declared and its representatives hard at work, had 
 not surprised him entirely. He understood that the 
 first real fight of his life as a leader of the party was 
 on; and his eyes kindled at the prospect. He re 
 gretted the blow he had struck, yet, secretly he was 
 glad of the occasion which it had precipitated for 
 him to demonstrate his personal force, and make an 
 end, for once and all, of the persistent and growing 
 attempts to cripple him. He believed that the time 
 had come when he should assert himself, and domi 
 nate allies and foes alike. 
 
 For Jimmy, as the weeks wore on and the Com 
 mittee of Fifty disclosed its strength, saw that the 
 reformers would be defeated. The contest would be 
 sharp, but it could have but one ending, under the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 368 
 
 circumstances. The minority party, with wisdom 
 bought of many and calamitous tilts with him, held 
 aloof from the reformers. They rejected the prof 
 fers of an alliance because they believed that their 
 best chance was to fight independently. If they 
 were not successful in this fight, at least they would 
 be no worse off than before; if Jimmy won, which 
 they firmly believed he would, they would not figure 
 among his personal enemies. Moreover, they had an 
 innate reluctance to associating themselves with a 
 movement which had for its purpose the disposses 
 sion of political bosses. So the situation developed 
 into a three-cornered fight, the main issue lying, 
 apparently, between the Committee of Fifty and the 
 Three Czars. 
 
 For all his confidence in the result, Jimmy threw 
 himself into the preliminaries of this struggle with 
 energy. The summer months saw him working 
 night and day. He fairly ran Walsh and Showell 
 off their feet. Again and again he spurred them 
 on. 
 
 " What s th use of this break-neck rush? " asked 
 Walsh one day. " They can t beat th three of us ; 
 you say that yourself." 
 
 " Yes, I m about played out," complained Showell, 
 mopping his forehead. " You ll do yourself up, if 
 yo don t quit," he admonished. 
 
 " It s no time for resting now," returned Jimmy. 
 " We will beat them, but not by taking things easy. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 369 
 
 Wait a few weeks. Then we can slack up with 
 safety." 
 
 So, while Walsh and Showell left town in July 
 for a brief rest Jimmy stuck to his post and worked 
 hard enough for the three. 
 
 The summer was a trying one; the heat intense; 
 and now and then he had a sensation of faint- 
 ness in his head. It was a warning, which for a 
 time, he refused to harken to, because it seemed, with 
 each succeeding day, that Walsh and Showell allowed 
 more of the work to fall on his shoulders, and he 
 was too proud to weaken under the strain. Besides, 
 nothing suited his own plans better than to have the 
 final settlement of questions left to him. Increased 
 responsibility and labor now meant for him a 
 stronger grasp on the situation and greater personal 
 power when victory was won. 
 
 The selection of a City ticket to be nominated in 
 September was largely made by him, and the dis 
 couraging task of adjusting differences in the wards 
 among the various factions was accomplished by his 
 perseverance and sagacity. Marcus s prospective 
 nomination was the most distasteful, but not the 
 most difficult of the questions which his powers of 
 persuasion settled. 
 
 But after the party ticket had been substantially 
 agreed upon, one morning in August, a strange 
 blindness suddenly fell upon him while he was in 
 the street, and it was borne upon him that, if he did 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 370 
 
 not take a holiday at once, something very incon 
 venient would happen soon. 
 
 Quite abruptly that afternoon he turned to Walsh 
 and Showell and shamefacedly acknowledged that 
 the heat had overmastered him. He said, " Now, 
 I m going to get out of this. If anybody wants to 
 know where Jimmy is for th next two weeks, tell 
 em an angel carried him away, he was so good. I 
 leave to-morrow." 
 
 "For two weeks, did you say?" asked Walsh. 
 He was facing the other way, and the back of the 
 head lacks expression. 
 
 Jimmy answered what seemed to be a casual 
 question. " Yes, for two weeks. There s no more 
 to be done right now. Everything s running like a 
 train of cars. You and Showell can keep th track 
 clear, I guess." 
 
 Showell nodded and put a hand to his face. 
 Jimmy s sight was keen, and Showell knew that his 
 features were not proof against the elation that 
 stirred him. 
 
 But Walsh was better off. He turned and held 
 out a hand. His voice was as cordial as it ever 
 could be. " I m glad you re going," he exclaimed. 
 " I ve been telling you all along that you needed a 
 rest." 
 
 " We ll notify you, if anything turns up," said 
 Showell. 
 
 " No, you won t," returned Jimmy. " For you 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 371 
 
 won t know where I am. I wouldn t go if there was 
 any chance of you needing me. Th way it is, I 
 won t have telegrams or letters chasing me. I m 
 not going to leave my address." 
 
 With a light heart and a feeling akin to that which 
 possessed him when, as a boy, he ran from the 
 " News " office, work being done for the day, Jimmy 
 walked toward Kate s house that same afternoon. 
 
 On the way he chanced upon Casey, and gave him 
 a cheery " good-day/ Then, something made him 
 stop and call Casey to his side. 
 
 " Mat," he said, " you ve got a good pair of ears? " 
 
 " Mrs. Casey complains thet they sthick out," 
 Casey replied. 
 
 " Perhaps they re all th better for that," said 
 Jimmy. " At any rate, good hearing s what I m 
 after. So keep your ears open for th next couple of 
 weeks. If anything goes into your head that you 
 know I must hear must, you understand take 
 yourself to this address and see Mrs. Doran. Catch 
 on?" 
 
 The little Irishman nodded sagaciously, and 
 Jimmy left him. But he said nothing to Kate of his 
 holiday until he was about to leave. Then he handed 
 her a slip of paper. 
 
 She read aloud the few words penciled on it. " J. 
 H. Smith Bay Side Hotel Sea Cliff." She looked 
 up. " I don t understand," she said. " What does 
 this mean ? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 372 
 
 " It means," he said, " that, if you want to let 
 me know anything during th next two weeks, you re 
 to write that on your envelope. I m going off to 
 get acquainted with myself under a new name. 
 Jimmy doesn t seem to be a good holiday name, 
 somehow." 
 
CHAPTER XX 373 
 
 Ct A N once he tried t make me b lieve I didn t 
 r\ know nuthin bout politics," remarked 
 
 ^ Bill Brady. Brady s lean, furrowed face 
 
 was wrinkled in humorous appreciation of the in 
 ference of his reflection. He tilted back further in 
 his chair, and shifted his feet, which were propped 
 against the table. 
 
 " Every dog has his day," rejoined Sam Showell. 
 Like Brady s, his chair was balanced on two legs, 
 and its occupant, in shirt sleeves and without his 
 collar, was attired like the men about him. He 
 wiped his perspiring face, blew a cloud of smoke 
 and watched it drift from the open window into 
 the air of the hot August night. " Jimmy s day ll 
 end so soon he won t know where he s at, eh, Ed? " 
 he added, addressing Walsh. 
 
 Walsh who retained his coat and wore a high col 
 lar, passed a handkerchief lightly across his fore 
 head. " Yes," he answered, " and you may remem 
 ber, Showell, I said something about that one elec 
 tion night, not long ago. The time came quicker 
 than I had hoped for. Jimmy helped us along when 
 he knocked down that fire-eater, Claghorn." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 374 
 
 The speaker removed his eye-glasses, and leis 
 urely polished them. He did it with a deliberate 
 care that was characteristic of him. His person 
 seemed to exhale an atmosphere of cool comfort 
 which made the heat more trying to his companions. 
 
 There were seven men in varying states of un 
 dress in this room which Showell used as an office. 
 They had met at eight o clock of that evening, and it 
 was now ten o clock. The room was filled with 
 smoke in which the gas flames burned with yellow 
 edges. For the two hours the men had gulped ice 
 water and sworn at the heat, and talked. But, for 
 most of the time, they had been listening to Walsh. 
 He was tacitly recognized as chairman of their meet 
 ings, and already had presided at half a dozen at 
 which were the men now around him. He was the 
 organizer of the plan which had first brought them 
 together, and he, too, was the connecting link with 
 the Committee of Fifty. 
 
 Walsh replaced his glasses, and spoke again. He 
 reviewed certain facts in the political situation as 
 developed within the past two months and particu 
 larly in the week past. He talked in a clear voice 
 that made every word distinct. Only those who 
 knew him thoroughly would have guessed that his 
 colorless tones and unmoved face masked feelings 
 deep and dominating, and that he exulted inwardly 
 when his language was most matter of fact. 
 
 The men listened to him almost with indiffer- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 375 
 
 ence. They were familiar with what he was telling 
 them. But, when he had finished his rapid survey, 
 Showell put in, " Did y see Gans t day? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Walsh, " and he is satisfied/ 
 
 " With eight Councilmen ? I thought he d raise 
 a kick when it came out yesterday that we d got th 
 Nineteenth and Eighth Wards. That gives us 
 twelve for certain." 
 
 " Twelve Councilmen ; but th Committee splits 
 even with us on th Magistrates." 
 
 " They get their share. They get a lot more than 
 they ought, it strikes me," declared Con Murray, 
 who was thin, short and wiry, with coarse face. 
 
 " A damn sight more ! " added Brady. " I tell 
 y , Walsh, these here reformers have bin layin down 
 th law too strong t my way a thinkin ." 
 
 " Oh, I don t know," returned Walsh. " They re 
 able to lay down th law some just now. We all 
 know that, if it hadn t been for th Committee, we 
 couldn t have controlled th City ticket. As it 
 stands, we ve got Jimmy beaten." 
 
 Brady chuckled. " Beat good an hard," he 
 confirmed. " An th best of it is he s down by 
 th waves takin life easy; an don t know nuthin . 
 Say, Walsh, you didn t do a thing but shut his eye 
 up, you an Showell ! " 
 
 Showell grinned. " We did it all right, you bet," 
 he said. " He ain t got a smell of what s goin on." 
 
 " Sure? " asked Murray. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 376 
 
 " I m as good as sure," replied Walsh. " I know 
 Jimmy pretty well. I ve been in his confidence as 
 much as any one ever was, I guess ; and I don t be 
 lieve he has th smallest idea of anything going 
 wrong. Even now his people are only beginning 
 to scent trouble; they don t know what s in th air, 
 and they don t know where to find him, which is bet 
 ter still. He ll be away a week longer according to 
 his plans. By th time he comes back-" 
 
 " It won t matter much what he finds out," 
 Showell supplied. " With th primaries fixed th 
 way we ve got em already, an th Conventions put 
 in such shape that they can t be shaken, why, Jimmy 
 can run about all he s a mind to." 
 
 " I think we re safe," went on Walsh. " We ve 
 got th whip-handle of Jimmy this time. As for th 
 Committee of Fifty, they think they ll down us 
 after this is all over; but I can t see that that need 
 worry us, if we keep our mouths shut and our eyes 
 wide open. Th thing we care about is that they re 
 helping us to down Mr. J. Devlin." Walsh lin 
 gered on the name with sarcastic emphasis. There 
 was a suspicion of triumph in his face, a touch of 
 color in his pale cheeks. He looked around on the 
 men. The room was absolutely silent. 
 
 Then a floor board cracked loudly in the hallway, 
 and Walsh sprang to his feet. Without a word, he 
 strode to the door, unlocked it and opened it sud 
 denly. He slipped into the hall. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 377 
 
 It was dark there except for a light flickering at 
 the stairhead, twenty feet away. The building was 
 an old one, its one-time bed-chambers serving as 
 offices. Its hallways were cut up and badly lighted. 
 Walsh, peering into the gloom, could see no 
 one. 
 
 He stood listening. Then he walked to the stair 
 head, and looked down. A lamp on the street just 
 outside the open door made a rectangle of light. 
 Nothing interrupted his field of vision there. He 
 walked back and along the hallway, past the door 
 where his companions were. They called to him, 
 but he went on. He hunted in the darkness in the 
 rear of the hall, but found nothing to confirm his 
 suspicions. He returned to the room. Brady and 
 Murray had <"ome to the doorway. The rest had not 
 stirred. They laughed at him as he entered. 
 
 " See any ghosts? " asked Brady. 
 
 " It sounded as if somebody was at th door," he 
 protested. 
 
 "If you d been in here as much as I have you 
 wouldn t jump every time a board creaks," Showell 
 said. " Th place s a regular old barn." 
 
 Walsh did not answer, but began to collect some 
 scattered sheets of paper. The men were talking 
 among themselves. Showell stretched his arms, 
 and gave a prodigious yawn. " I guess this meetin 
 can adjourn, can t it ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes," replied Walsh. " I don t think there s 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 378 
 
 anything more for to-night. We ll meet here 
 to-morrow night, if that suits ? " 
 
 The rest of the men agreed. They got up, and, 
 with much grumbling, began to don their collars. 
 One by one, they went down the stairs, coats on 
 arms. Walsh and Showell went last. They started 
 to walk across-town in company. They were talking 
 earnestly. So intent were they on their argument 
 that neither of them noticed a man dodge around a 
 corner, a short distance ahead of them. 
 
 But this man, looking over his shoulder, had seen 
 them, and it was his recognition of their faces which 
 made him cut out of their way. " Thim divils 
 agin ! " he muttered, and increased his pace. 
 
 He was a short man with sandy hair and sharp 
 eyes. Behind the bar in Casey s saloon he was 
 familiarly known as " Mat." But just at this time, 
 Mat Casey s thoughts were very far from his 
 bottles and liquors. He was silently cursing a cer 
 tain loose board in the floor of a hallway back of 
 him, and, in the next breath, praising the saints for 
 the gloom in the rear of that hallway. It was the 
 darkness there, coupled with Walsh s failure to carry 
 his search to the end of the building which had 
 enabled him to avoid discovery a discovery that 
 would have upset his plans. 
 
 For Mat Casey was one of Jimmy s people who, as 
 Walsh said, scented trouble. Moreover, having 
 scented it, he put his nose to the trail as it were, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 379 
 
 and, for four days, followed it in vain. On this 
 night he had met with better luck; and his feet were 
 growing tired with standing outside a closed door, 
 his ear pressed against its panels, when his presence 
 was signalled by a sprung board in the floor. When 
 Walsh and Showell went down stairs he followed 
 them, and took a side street. After he dodged them 
 at the corner, he kept to the small, unfrequented 
 streets ; and so, in a few minutes, was brought to the 
 door-step of Marcus Doran s house. While he 
 waited admittance, he repeated to himself ; " F y 
 hear anything, see Mrs. Doran. 
 
 Presently, a lazy footstep sounded from within, 
 and the door opened. Mat found himself facing a 
 man. It was Marcus who had just come in. 
 
 " What do you want? " he demanded. 
 
 " Is this where Mrs. Doran lives? " asked Casey. 
 
 " Yes, I m Mr. Doran." Marcus did not know 
 Casey by name, but a faint remembrance of his face 
 brought Jimmy to his recollection. 
 
 " I want t see Mrs. Doran; I ve got a missage fur 
 her," explained Casey. 
 
 " What is it? " asked Marcus. 
 
 " Oi ll be afther tillin t only t her." 
 
 " Then you ll wait a good while ; for she s not to 
 be seen." Marcus wondered what the message 
 might be which such a man as this brought to Kate. 
 His faint identification of Casey made him link it 
 with Jimmy; and, immediately, he was interested. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 380 
 
 As the message was not meant for his ears he was 
 the more eager to hear it. " Mrs. Doran s sick," he 
 explained in a less aggressive tone. " She can t see 
 anybody. If th message is in writing, I ll take it up 
 to her." 
 
 " T isn t in writhin ," replied Casey. He was 
 puzzled what to do. He recognized Marcus as a 
 hanger-on at Jimmy s office and there was every 
 reason why the latter, therefore, should be a friend. 
 But the word which he carried was to be intrusted to 
 only one person. It was Mrs. Doran, not Mr. Doran, 
 whom Jimmy had bade him seek in an emergency. 
 So it was Mrs. Doran, and no one else that he would 
 speak his tidings to now. He told Marcus this. 
 
 Marcus reiterated his explanation. 
 
 Casey wavered the briefest moment. His keen 
 eyes studied Marcus s face which the light of a street 
 lamp partly revealed. He was not prepossessed, and 
 declared, " But tis Mrs. Doran Oi must see. Tis 
 important, s this thing Oi m t till her." 
 
 Marcus tried a chance shot which was not alto 
 gether a chance shot, either. " It s from Mr. Devlin, 
 is it? " he said. 
 
 " No, t s n t," returned Casey. " But t s him 
 thet 11 be raisin all hill, f t don t rache Mrs. Doran 
 all roight an at wanst." 
 
 Marcus was set straight. He took prompt advan 
 tage of the opening. " Then keep your message for 
 Mrs. Doran till you see her next," he said. " And I ll 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 381 
 
 tell Mr. Devlin about to-night. He ll thank you 
 in his own way when he hears that I offered to take 
 your message to Mrs. Doran, when she couldn t see 
 you herself; and that you refused to let me have it." 
 He stepped back, and reached a hand toward the 
 door, as if to close it. 
 
 The little Irishman s face made no concealment of 
 his anxiety. " Wait a minute there," he exclaimed. 
 " Oi m thinkin av t over." 
 
 He looked at Marcus again and again, and worked 
 his shoulders uncomfortably. He distrusted Mar 
 cus on general principles, yet he was much more 
 afraid of the results of being barred out with his 
 message undelivered. He stood so long, mumbling 
 and shifting his footing, that Marcus made another 
 movement toward the door. 
 
 Casey instantly stepped toward him and laid a 
 hand on his arm. " Oi m goin t till t t y ," he said 
 in a low voice. " An , Mishter Doran do y carry th 
 same sthraight t Mrs. Doran. F y don t, be hivins ! 
 Oi ll be hilpin y t a share av me own onaisy moind 
 by puttin me fist in y r face th first toime we mate." 
 
 Marcus started involuntarily, then tried to laugh. 
 The laugh was an empty one; it convinced Casey 
 that he faced a coward. And that made him feel less 
 concern as to the safety of his message. Oi mane 
 all thet," he went on. " But this s no toime fur 
 makin thrits. Here s th wurrurd y re t take t Mrs. 
 Doran. They ve got t in fur Mishter Divilin 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 382 
 
 Walsh an Showell an th rist av thet false-face 
 gang. They re holdin matins behint his back, an 
 he s away at th say-shore, an knows nuthin av t. 
 They wuz wan av them matins t night, an twuz 
 mesilf thet overhird their talk. They ve jined hands 
 wid th Commitay av Fifty, an they re puttin up a 
 bunco game on Jimmy Mishter Divilin, I mane. I 
 hird them say thet they d got th whole City Ticket 
 fixed, an thet th nominations d give him no more 
 offices than y c d count an y r two hands. Thet durty 
 traitur av a Walsh s ladin th consphiracy. Be th 
 same token, t s th divil s t pay! T s mesilf 
 thet d run all av th way t till Jimmy av this, f I 
 knew where he wuz, which I don t, more s th bad 
 luck. An t wuz him tould me b fore he lift, t 
 bring any missage fur him here t Mrs. Doran 
 as fast as Oi c d, an thet s all." 
 
 Casey had talked so fast that he came to a stop 
 gasping for breath. His eyes were aglow, his fingers 
 working. If his mind had not been concentrated on 
 his story he might have profited by the changes 
 which wrote themselves on the other s countenance. 
 When he did think to notice how Marcus took the 
 news, he saw nothing on his face to excite alarm. 
 
 Marcus was pale, and his lips twitched a little. 
 Casey s fleeting impression was that Marcus took 
 this direful information to heart, and he was glad of 
 it. It showed that he was startled by Jimmy s danger. 
 
 And he was right. Marcus had taken the news to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 383 
 
 heart; it fairly stunned him for a moment. He did 
 not credit it until he realized how accurately Jimmy s 
 absence from the city fitted with the facts which 
 Casey had stated and with the rumors of double-deal 
 ing that had been afloat for several days. Then, it 
 came to him that this conspiracy might mean Jim 
 my s downfall, and he quaked for himself. 
 
 He saw the dreams of luxurious ease and increas 
 ing power, which that promise of the nomination 
 for Councils had created, fade into nothing.. He 
 saw his hold on Jimmy made of no avail by Jimmy s 
 ruin. He was stricken by alarm accordingly. 
 
 When Casey grasped his arm, and urged him, 
 " Be afther hurryin now ! Till Mrs. Doran as quick 
 as y can," he could only stammer, " You must be 
 wrong. Jimmy s not going to be fooled that 
 way. There s some mistake." 
 
 " Mishtake s there s none," asserted Casey. " I m 
 shure av what I ve bin tillin y . F Jimmy s t save 
 himsilf t s back here he must be at wanst. Mrs. 
 Doran 11 know how t get him, I m shure, though th 
 rist av us has no idea av where he is." 
 
 Marcus hesitated no longer. For all of his aston 
 ishment and fears, he was alive to the unpleasant 
 results which the anger of the little Irishman might 
 entail. He put out a hand. 
 
 " You ve done a good thing in bringing this 
 message," he said. " I ll see that you ain t forgotten 
 for it." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 384 
 
 Casey gave the outstretched hand a shake, and 
 dropped it quickly. " An , indade, "t s Mishter 
 Divilin 11 be attindin* t thet! " he returned. " But 
 y re wastin y r toime. Hurry, an till Mrs. Doran 
 Oi ll wait t hear f t s all roight." 
 
 Marcus turned, and walked back the hallway 
 briskly. But, when he reached the stairway foot, he 
 paused, and slowly went up the stairs. He was try 
 ing to decide what to do. Should he tell Kate, and 
 enable her to warn Jimmy? His personal interests 
 seemed to urge this course. But his crafty nature 
 made him reluctant to take the irrevocable step until 
 he had weighed all the chances. Even now he saw 
 dim possibilities in profiting from Jimmy s defeat, 
 if defeat it was to be. Nor could he be sure that 
 this was not to be the result. Kate might have the 
 address, and she might send the warning, and Jimmy 
 might come as fast as steam could carry him, and 
 yet not be in time. 
 
 When he had reached the stairhead he was so 
 far persuaded by the uncertainties of the situation 
 that he determined not to give the message to Kate 
 just yet. To satisfy Casey and to give himself time 
 to think the whole thing over, he waited for a minute 
 in the back of the hall, then retraced his steps swiftly 
 to the street door. 
 
 " Well, s t all roight? " demanded Casey. " Did 
 y till her?" 
 
 " It s all right," returned Marcus reassuringly. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 385 
 
 He compelled a cheerful smile. " Mr. Devlin 11 get 
 th message." 
 
 Casey s face shone with relief and new confidence. 
 He said " Good night," and was trudging up the 
 street. 
 
 Marcus closed the door, and stood in the hallway 
 for several minutes, thinking. So far he seemed to 
 have the thing entirely in his own hands. Kate was 
 asleep, and had heard nothing. He judged rightly 
 that Casey would say nothing of what he had done 
 to anyone or take any action which would lead to the 
 disclosure of his discovery until he had seen Jimmy. 
 Walsh and his confederates, on their side, would 
 naturally guard the secret as long as it was possible 
 to do so. Marcus argued, that he, therefore, had at 
 least twenty-four hours in which to consider the 
 question as it affected him. Twenty-four hours in 
 which to decide whether his silence and inaction 
 or his information was likely to be worth more to 
 him. He went up stairs, and, in the sitting room, 
 thought it all out. 
 
 He was not surprised to learn that Jimmy had 
 told Kate of his whereabouts, and, he was convinced 
 that he had only to give her the message which 
 Casey had brought to fetch Jimmy to the city in the 
 shortest possible time. The result of this would be 
 to precipitate a battle between Jimmy and Walsh and 
 the Committee of Fifty. Marcus knew enough of 
 the political situation to.be sure that the outcome of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 386 
 
 such a fight would be doubtful at best. Indeed, he 
 was not able to see how Jimmy, at this late hour, 
 could win a victory. From his point of view his 
 best chance, therefore, seemed to lie in making a 
 bargain with Walsh. This treachery was not likely 
 to do him any injury with Jimmy; for his hold on 
 the latter was not affected by hate or esteem. It 
 would only be invalidated by Jimmy s defeat. He 
 came to the conclusion that, all in all, it would be 
 wise to prepare against such a catastrophe. To that 
 end he said nothing to Kate, and went to bed, deter 
 mined to see Walsh the next day. 
 
 It was eight o clock on the following morning 
 when he rang the bell at Walsh s comfortable home, 
 and was shown into the parlor. Walsh was break 
 fasting, and Marcus had to wait fifteen minutes. 
 
 Walsh lived as he dressed, and for much the same 
 reasons. He was a married man, but his wife was 
 strictly an external of his life. She represented him 
 socially with a certain set whom he led politically 
 within party lines. His residence was in keeping 
 with this relation and its requirements. To Marcus it 
 seemed luxurious in a degree. The room in which he 
 sat, with its filmy curtains, cool matting and artistic 
 furniture and decorations, appealed to his fondness 
 for ease and good things. He contrasted it with his 
 own house, and was disgusted. He recalled the bare 
 rooms with which Jimmy was content, and was the 
 more impressed with the qualities which enabled 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 387 
 
 Walsh to desire and obtain for himself the things 
 which here surrounded him. He was confirmed in 
 the opinion that he had done well in coming to 
 Walsh. Such a man was much more to his taste 
 than Jimmy with his scorn of luxury and plain dress 
 and habits. 
 
 He had got so far in a train of thought which 
 was pleasing, if somewhat lacking in coherency, 
 when Walsh walked into the room, and said in a 
 voice that brought his visitor rudely into the present, 
 " You wanted to see me ? " 
 
 "Yes," answered Marcus; "I came to to ask 
 your advice." 
 
 "What about?" Walsh knew Marcus slightly, 
 and did not care to know him better. Marcus was a 
 parasite, and parasites were of little use, very annoy 
 ing, and very plenty. 
 
 " It s a question of politics. I ve found out some 
 thing that I want " 
 
 "To sell?" 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 Walsh regarded his caller more closely. Marcus 
 was Jimmy s particular parasite, he remembered. It 
 might not be well to drive him away until he had 
 exhibited his wares. A half hour might be given to 
 the task of examining these. He changed his tone 
 accordingly. " Well, maybe, you ve come to th 
 right place," he said. " Will you walk back 
 here?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 388 
 
 He took Marcus into a small library, and they 
 sat down, the spider and the fly. And, in ten min 
 utes, Marcus was sucked dry of all his information, 
 and Walsh, who had formed his plan, was regarding 
 him with a pitying smile. 
 
 Marcus twisted on his chair and moved his feet. 
 Walsh s amusement worried him. Then it made 
 him angry. " What s th matter anyway?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Nothing except I m sorry for you." 
 
 " Sorry for me? What do you mean?" 
 
 " I mean," said Walsh in a dry tone; " that you ve 
 been made a fool of. Jimmy s made use of you in a 
 clever way. I tell you this because it can do no 
 harm now. But I m sorry for you." 
 
 " How how have I been fooled? " All of Mar 
 cus s ideas were upside down. 
 
 " You ve been fooled with a cock-and-bull story 
 about a conspiracy, I think you said. You tell me 
 that I m at the head of it. Now, that s sheer non 
 sense. Think a moment ! Think of how close Jimmy 
 and Showell and I are ! Think of the fact that this 
 fight is a fight made by reformers ! Think of all 
 those things, and you ll understand what absurd talk 
 you ve listened to. Whoever told yon this yarn, spun 
 it out of the rumors that have been on the streets 
 for days. I ve heard them myself. They amount 
 to nothing. For that matter, I mentioned them 
 in a letter I sent to Jimmy yesterday. I expect he s 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 389 
 
 laughing at them now. And that s all they are worth 
 a laugh." 
 
 "What s that got to do with rne? Where do I 
 come in? " 
 
 " Right here, though you ll know it soon enough 
 when Jimmy comes back. Th fact is, Doran 
 you re an impossibility as a Councilman. Jimmy 
 and th rest of us recognized that from th beginning, 
 though it s due Jimmy to say that he tried to do 
 what you wanted. It was your name that started 
 that row at the Colonial Club." 
 
 In a flash Marcus saw what he thought was the 
 truth. He knew that the report of his prospective 
 nomination had been the cause of the blow struck by 
 Jimmy; he guessed at a great deal more which 
 Walsh s explanation had not recounted. " So so 
 Jimmy threw me overboard? " he said in a low voice. 
 "He didn t dare to tell me!" 
 
 " Exactly," answered Walsh. " It really couldn t 
 be helped. There s no use of acting ugly about it." 
 
 "Isn t there ? I ll show him if there isn t ! " Mar 
 cus s voice rose viciously. " I ll show him this very 
 day!" he added. 
 
 " How ? " asked Walsh, his tones indicating that 
 the threat was amusing. He was interested in 
 this unexpected development. It promised to undo 
 the good work which his lies had just accomplished. 
 For, if Marcus communicated with Jimmy at all, he 
 would bring him to the city. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 390 
 
 " Never mind how," returned Marcus. " I know 
 how to handle Jimmy. He ll be dead sure of that 
 when he gets my telegram this afternoon." 
 
 "Now, look here!" said Walsh sympathetically; 
 " I know how you must feel. It is rough. Between 
 you and me, Jimmy didn t act by you exactly as he 
 should; I told him that before he left. I don t won 
 der that you re sore. But what s th use of kicking 
 to him? You can t make him do anything now." 
 
 " Can t I ? Well, I guess I can ! I ve got Devlin 
 where I want him. I can make him give me that 
 nomination, and I will." 
 
 Walsh would have liked to find out what it was 
 that made Marcus so sure; but he did not want to 
 excite suspicions; besides, he doubted if Marcus 
 would tell at this time. It served his purpose if 
 Marcus did as he wanted him to do. " Well, I 
 can t stop you," he said. " Nor do I blame you, 
 altogether. But, if you want my opinion, you ll keep 
 quiet for a while. You ll cut off your own head, 
 maybe, if you don t." 
 
 " I don t see it." 
 
 " You will ; for you ll cripple Jimmy." 
 
 Marcus grinned. " That s just what I m after 
 now," he replied. 
 
 " But, you ve forgotten, that, when you cripple 
 Jimmy, you lose a lot yourself. It s this way. You 
 send word to Jimmy, we ll say, that, unless he comes 
 home and puts your name up for Councilman, you ll 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 391 
 
 well, you ll do whatever it is that he don t want 
 you to do. So he comes up, and nominates you. 
 What s th result? You re defeated; for, I tell you, 
 neither he nor any one else can force your election 
 this time. It might even be that th attempt would 
 knock him out; stranger things have happened. It 
 was only by dropping you that he held onto a big vote 
 in your ward that he needed badly. And now what 
 do you gain? Nothing, that I can see. But what 
 do you lose? A great deal. For Jimmy can t give 
 you th things you may want in th future, if he 
 hasn t got them to give." 
 
 The argument was not unfamiliar to Marcus, and 
 in such cogent terms appealed to him forcibly. It 
 seemed to him to confirm the statement that Walsh 
 and Showell remained faithful to Jimmy. Walsh, 
 as an ally of Jimmy, would be anxious, for purely 
 selfish reasons, if for nothing else, to serve Jimmy s 
 interests. 
 
 But, if the argument tended to convince Marcus 
 that the story of a conspiracy was a canard and 
 that he was the one who had been betrayed, it 
 made it no easier for him to swallow his disappoint 
 ment and forego his threatened revenge. 
 
 Walsh cajoled, flattered and reasoned with him 
 for half an hour before he succeeded in persuading 
 him that his best plan was to say nothing to Jimmy, 
 and to wait. 
 
 When he shook hands with his visitor on the door- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 392 
 
 step and turned again into the house, Walsh s lip 
 curled with scorn; but he was satisfied with the 
 way in which he had handled the complication. He 
 believed that he had assured himself against the re 
 call of Jimmy. 
 
 And this was thoroughly desirable, though not 
 essential to his plans and those of his confederates. 
 The conspiracy against Jimmy had now advanced 
 too far, he believed, to be defeated in open fight. In 
 deed, from the day on which Walsh and Showell 
 joined hands with the Committee of Fifty the issue 
 became questionable. The work secretly done be 
 tween that time and the date of Jimmy s departure 
 had brought the odds in favor of the reformers and 
 their co-laborers. Every day that Jimmy remained 
 away from the city, in ignorance of the truth, in 
 creased the handicap against him. 
 
 Marcus left Walsh s house ripe for any deed 
 which would secure for him what he had been told 
 he had lost. His anger waxed as he pondered on 
 the advice which Walsh had given him, and real 
 ized that, to inflict an injury on Jimmy, was to 
 hurt his own case. He spent the remainder of the 
 morning, nursing his wrath and hunting for Con 
 Murray. He had to tell his story to some one. 
 
 At last he came upon Murray. " Con," he said; 
 " do you know what s happened? " 
 
 "No, what?" 
 
 " I ve been played for a sucker! 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 393 
 
 " Who did it ? " asked Murray. A peculiar ex 
 pression, partly of affected concern, partly of amuse 
 ment flitted over his face. 
 
 " Jimmy ! " said Marcus. " He s knocked me out 
 knocked out our game ! " 
 
 "What game? " 
 
 " Th only one I know of is putting me into Coun 
 cils. You were going to get some of th rake-offs/ 
 I don t see how you forget so easily." 
 
 " Oh, that! " said Murray hastily. " I hadn t for 
 got that. Only I didn t know you could a 
 heard." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Tell me your story first ; then maybe, mine 
 won t be needed." 
 
 Marcus, once started, blurted out the story which 
 Walsh had told him. At the end he was cursing 
 Jimmy, and demanding what his companion thought 
 of it. 
 
 Murray looked the astonishment which he felt. 
 He was surprised, not at Marcus s reference to the 
 conspiracy, but at the tale told by Walsh of Jimmy s 
 betrayal of Marcus. He did not believe that Jimmy 
 had done this. The mention of Walsh s name 
 showed him that Marcus had purposely been misled. 
 
 Without compunction he said, " It s so ! it s so ! 
 I heard that he d done y a dirty trick, but I wasn t 
 sure of it. So I kept my mouth shut. It won t do 
 no good t go round now, slinging hard words, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 394 
 
 either. It s done. We ve been played; an we ve 
 got t take our medicine like little men. We ll have 
 our chance later. Jimmy 11 have some stiff lie t tell 
 y , when he comes back. If y do as I would, y ll 
 pretend t swallow it, too. Then, he may slip 
 up." 
 
 Marcus burst into a renewed volley of curses. 
 Murray nodded approval. " He s all that," he said. 
 Then his cunning suggested a further deception. 
 
 " Say, look here ! " he went on in lowered voice. 
 " I think Jimmy s up against it good and hard, if y 
 want t know what I think. I don t believe he ll 
 come out on top this time. He wouldn t a got rid 
 of you if he hadn t bin afraid of somethin hap- 
 penin." 
 
 " Do you think they ll down him in th elec 
 tion?" asked Marcus startled. 
 
 " Oh, I don t say that. But I d be ready t play 
 my own game, whatever turns up. I d be ready t 
 stand in with th fellow that wins. Your pull on 
 Jimmy won t do you no good, if he s knocked out. 
 I d be on th ground t sell whatever I had t th 
 other side, when th time comes." 
 
 Many drinks had helped to befog Marcus s brain 
 and inflame his resentment. Murray saw that his 
 somewhat dangerous words had not done harm. 
 When he left Marcus, he believed that he had pro 
 moted the plot to keep Jimmy in ignorance of what 
 was going on. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 395 
 
 But two things happened within a few hours to up 
 set these plans. 
 
 Marcus, at twelve o clock that night, had suc 
 ceeded in inserting his latch-key into the front door 
 and was in the act of entering, when a man stepped 
 from the shadow of the house wall, and spoke to him. 
 
 It was Mat Casey. 
 
 "Mishter Doran," he said; "did y sind that 
 wurrurd t Mishter Divilin ? " 
 
 Marcus was in a condition in which his wits did 
 not serve him faithfully. His single fixed idea was 
 that the message should not go to Jimmy. Want 
 ing only to be rid of Casey, he said, " Yes, it s gone 
 long ago." He tried to pass into the house. 
 
 But Casey was of no mind to be shut out. All day 
 he had looked for Jimmy in the places where he 
 should be found if in the city, and had not found 
 him ; nor had he heard from him. He did not trust 
 Marcus, and he was bent on having the truth this 
 time. " An , f y sint th missage, why ain t Mishter 
 Divilin here? " he demanded. 
 
 " I don t know. That s his business." returned 
 Marcus. " I can t stop here. Good night ! " 
 
 He tried to push past Casey who had slid around 
 in front of him; but the little Irishman stood his 
 ground. His suspicions were wide awake; he was 
 sure now that the message had not been sent. " Y 
 don t go in," he said; "till Oi know f y gave th 
 wurrurd t Mrs. Doran." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 396 
 
 Marcus s temper got away with him. He gave 
 Casey a hard push. Casey staggered, and fell against 
 the door-frame with a crash that echoed through the 
 house. It brought Kate to the stairhead. 
 
 But, by that time, she heard the sounds of a 
 struggle below in the hallway; and she stood where 
 she was, silent, certain that it was a row, the cul 
 mination of one of Marcus s debauches; uncertain 
 what to do. 
 
 In the lower hallway Marcus Doran was getting 
 the first sound thrashing as a man which his coward 
 ice had not enabled him to escape. Casey s fighting 
 blood was up with that push. He was on his feet in 
 an instant, and pinned Marcus against the wall. 
 With his free hand he drummed on the latter s face 
 as often as he could hit the mark in the dim light, 
 while he told Marcus what he thought of him. 
 
 " Y re a durty cur ! " he cried . " An a liar thrown 
 in! Y sint no missage t Jimmy! Y tould him 
 nothin av what s goin on b hint his back ! Y lift 
 him t think thet Walsh an Showell wuz actin 
 sthraight, whin it s sthickin a knoife in him they re 
 at! Thin, take thet fur not givin Mrs. Doran th 
 wurrurd Oi brought y ! An thet fur th loie y 
 sphoke whin y said y tould her ! An thet fur not 
 sindin th ? missage t Jimmy ! An thet fur Jimmy s 
 sake! An thet fur moine; An thet fur Mrs. 
 Doran s ! " 
 
 Each denunciation Casey punctuated with his fist. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 397 
 
 Marcus struck out wildly and to small account. 
 Casey held him fast against the wall, and was merci 
 less. 
 
 Marcus began to bellow for help, and tried to 
 shield his face with his arms. Only then did his 
 assailant desist. He released his clasp on Marcus s 
 throat. Marcus dropped to the floor, moaning. 
 
 Casey stood over him for a moment, almost re 
 gretting the thrashing he had given; for now he 
 must go, and the message was still undelivered. He 
 wheeled, with a snort, and ran from the house. 
 
 And, then, Kate hurried down stairs. Alarm, 
 disgust and indignation had succeeded one another 
 in her breast as she heard Marcus s cries, the thud of 
 blows and the accusations. These last were a revela 
 tion that tied her tongue and held her fast, her ears 
 strained, her face white and fearful. She was sure 
 that they were true, though she did not know the 
 man who uttered them. Jimmy s absence, Marcus s 
 character corroborated them. So it was that, when 
 she should have called out and, perhaps, have saved 
 Marcus from that beating, she could do no more 
 than listen and try to pierce the darkness which hid 
 the fighting men. Casey s departing footsteps 
 brought sharply to her mind the fact that Marcus 
 lay on the floor below, and that her ministrations 
 were needed. 
 
 But Marcus, she found was not badly hurt. His 
 bloody face was a miserable sight, but the curses and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 398 
 
 threats of a terrible revenge on Casey with which he 
 interlarded his groans, assured Kate that her sym 
 pathy was largely wasted on him. 
 
 She helped him into the parlor and on the lounge 
 there, then hurriedly dressed and, telling him she 
 would fetch a doctor, hastened from the house. 
 
 A block away was a doctor s office. She notified 
 the physician and sped back. But, at the corner, she 
 turned, walked a short distance, and halted in front 
 of a glass window which bore, in white letters: 
 " Western Union Telegraph Office." 
 
 She brought from her pocket a slip of paper with 
 a few words pencilled on it. Then she went into the 
 office, and wrote a message. 
 
 " J. H. Smith Bay Side Hotel Sea Cliff! " read 
 the operator from the yellow blank. 
 
 Kate nodded, and gave a sigh of relief as she left 
 the office. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 399 
 
 JH. SMITH, a stocky, little figure, clad in 
 creased crash trousers, flannel shirt and a 
 battered straw hat, clambered from Capt n 
 Sam s cat-boat to the worm-eaten wharf at the 
 Fish House, Sea Cliff, and reached down for the 
 basket in which, bedded on cool sea-weed, lay five 
 blue fish. 
 
 " Ain t they beauties? " he said as he gazed on the 
 trophies of the morning s fishing. 
 
 " Purty tol able fish," agreed Capt n Sam, the 
 leather-faced, gaunt Jersey man. " But not much fur 
 six hours a fishin ," he went on. " Pears t me, Mr. 
 Smith y s jess plumb crazy bout loafin round a 
 boat, an trailin a line. Y r face certainly is a sight, 
 too. Red s a beet. Th skin fairly bilin where tain t 
 peelin off." 
 
 J. H. Smith pushed back his hat. " What s th 
 good of leavin th city if you mind such things ? " 
 he said. 
 
 " What s th j good a leavin th city t all? " asked 
 Capt n Sam. " F I lived there, where there s a lot 
 goin on all th time, y bet I wouldn t come down 
 here." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS . 400 
 
 J. H. Smith smiled, and started to reply; but the 
 other continued : " Y telled me, when y fust come 
 down, thet this wuz y r holiday, an y wuz goin t 
 hev a good time. What a y bin doin ? Gettin up 
 every mornin at six, sometimes five, an goin a 
 fishin. " 
 
 " Fishing s th greatest sport there is." 
 
 " Mebbe t is. I call t workin . You m certainly a 
 piece a work y rself when y get fast t one. Some 
 times I think y aint nothin but a boy growed up an 
 got a sprinklin a gray hairs." 
 
 " There s worse things than bein a boy, ain t 
 there?" J. H. Smith replied. 
 
 Capt n Sam went on, oblivious to the query, 
 " Yes, y certainly ain t no better n a boy, lots a 
 times I think y ain t nothin but a boy growed up an 
 got pulled overboard by thet blue fish. I swear t 
 man, I never seed such a sight. You a yellin t 
 me t pull in th fish an not t mind you; an a 
 spoutin water an slappin with y r hands like as y d 
 drown fur th durned fool y wuz, refusin t ketch 
 holt a th pole I poked at y ." 
 
 " But we got th fish, Capt n Sam, an it was a 
 corker." 
 
 " Huh ! " ejaculated the Jerseyman, shifting his 
 quid of tobacco. " Y d thought t wuz a corker, as y 
 call t, f y d seed th bottom, I reckon. Y re most 
 gone daffy over y r fishin , anyway. When y ain t a 
 hangin yer legs over th starn with a line, y re lyin 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 401 
 
 on y r back on deck with y r hat over y r eyes, soakin 
 in th sun. That s what you call hevin a good time ! " 
 
 " Yes," said J. H. Smith; " I call that a very good 
 time. Besides, there s lots to see. It s piles of fun, 
 watchin th gulls and beach-birds, teetering along on 
 th sand, and th clouds and th water. And it s 
 mighty comfortable to come back in th evenings, 
 and sit on th porch and just loaf." 
 
 "Sho!" exclaimed Capt n Sam. "An y call 
 thet fun? Say, now straight, y re a queer feller." 
 
 "Am I?" 
 
 " Y certainly are. I wisht I wuz livin in th 
 city. I d show y how t have a good time. Y bet, 
 I d hev somethin more excitin t do n goin over 
 t th village a evenin s, er up t th hotel. There s 
 nothin going on here bouts." 
 
 " There s politics ! They say you ve got a hot 
 fight on. Ain t politics exciting ?" 
 
 Unwittingly J. H. Smith had unbarred the flood 
 gates of Capt n Sam s scorn. " Politics ! " he ex 
 ploded. " I d be purty hard up, I guess, b fore 1 
 stuck my nose into them. A pol tician s a good bit 
 like a skunk. Looks inn cent nough till y tackle 
 him. Everybody wants t kick him, an nobody 
 dassent." 
 
 J. H. Smith roared. " You must have had a hard 
 time with th politicians you met." 
 
 " Never met one thet is a big one," his com 
 panion replied. "An I don t want t . But I ve 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 402 
 
 read pieces bout em in th newspapers, an thet wuz 
 nough. I ain t got no time fur em. They re a lot 
 a bad eggs ! They s not one on em as ever did a solid 
 day s work, I reckon. Jess get together, an fix things 
 so as other folks II do th work fur em, an smoke 
 seegars, an drink rum, an wear plug-hats, an make 
 jokes bout th fools thet s round em. Oh, they ain t 
 no blinkers on this hoss! I know what pol ticians 
 s like." 
 
 " I should think you did! " J. H. Smith remarked. 
 Then, after a pause, " Say, Capt n Sam, what kind 
 of a politician do you think I d make? " 
 
 "You! You!" Capt n Sam chuckled. "Now, 
 thet s good ! You a pol tician ? I d like t see you a 
 tryin t be a pol tician, I swear t man! I d like t 
 see y . Say, don t y ever get no sech idea into y r 
 head. F y do, I ll I ll well, I ll jess come up 
 t y an I ll say, Blue fish s runnin , Mr. Smith ! 
 Thet ll be nough. Y 11 drop pol ticianing right 
 off. You a pol tician! Why, you d hev bout s 
 much show agin them fellers as a mack rel agin a 
 shark." 
 
 " I m glad you told me," said J. H. Smith. The 
 twinkle in the blue eyes informed the Jerseyman that 
 he was not offended. " Well, I got to be going on 
 up to dinner," he went on. " I ll see you to-mor 
 row morning at seven, Capt n Sam." 
 
 He picked up the basket of fish, and started along 
 the sandy, shell-strewn road which wound back 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 403 
 
 among the salt meadows from the Fish House to the 
 Bay Side Hotel on the ocean front. " And so poli 
 ticians are skunks ! And I d have no more show 
 with them than a mackerel ! " he repeated to himself. 
 He seemed to relish the reflection. 
 
 He was still in enjoyment of it when he stepped 
 on the porch of the Bay Side Hotel, and put down 
 the basket. But his smile faded away as a tall, thin 
 woman came to the door, and extended a yellow 
 envelope. " Came this afternoon ! Th boys brought 
 it over with th mail," she explained. 
 
 " Much obliged," he returned. " I guess, it ain t 
 very important. Here s some fish. I ll come right 
 in to dinner." 
 
 He took the yellow envelope, and walked to the 
 end of the porch. A moment he stood, his gaze 
 wandering over the crescent of the beach which 
 curved until its line was lost in the soft haze; over 
 the breakers, tumbling in, laced with foam ; over the 
 sparkling water beyond. He stepped into the flood 
 of clear sunlight which bathed sea and land, and 
 took a great draught of salt air, and stretched his 
 arms. 
 
 " Awful hard luck to leave it ! " he said in an 
 undertone. 
 
 Then he gave himself a shake, and tore open the 
 envelope. A glance took in the words written on the 
 yellow blank within, but not their full significance. 
 He looked at them again, and told himself that the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 404 
 
 telegraph operator had made a bad mistake. Next 
 that Kate s fears had run away with her judgment. 
 Then, that the telegram was intended as a joke. But 
 he read it again and again, and began to recall things 
 which made him believe in the message. 
 
 No one would dare to joke in this way; Kate was 
 the only one who had his address Kate was clear 
 headed and reliant ; Walsh was not without a motive ; 
 last of all, " Jimmy " had become " J. H. Smith," 
 and, for a week, had been miles away from the city. 
 Yes, many things might have happened in this 
 " Jimmy s" absence ! 
 
 The facts were probably about as they were out 
 lined on the sheet of yellow paper. 
 
 Suddenly, the sea-line seemed to be wavering; and 
 Jimmy for " J. H. Smith " had been swept from 
 existence by the telegram put a hand on the porch 
 post. His forehead was wet and cold, but only for 
 the briefest instant. The next, he had folded the 
 despatch neatly, put it into his pocket, and was walk 
 ing the length of the porch with short, quick strides. 
 His hands had closed tightly, his lips were pressed 
 together, his chin was thrust a little forward. Up 
 in the city they would have recognized these as 
 signals not, to be misunderstood. 
 
 Three times Jirnmy paced the porch, then walked 
 into the house. He called to the landlady. " I ll 
 leave in ten minutes ! I must go to th city ! Have 
 th wagon ready for me! " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 405 
 
 " Lord save us, Mr. Smith ! Y weren t goin 
 for a week, y said ? Y r dinner ? " 
 
 " I ll leave in ten minutes. There s a train from 
 Plainville at one forty-five. Remember th wagon 
 and my bill ! " He turned and was at the top of the 
 stairs before the woman could reply. 
 
 At seventeen minutes of two o clock he stepped 
 into the railroad telegraph office at Plainville, and 
 rapidly wrote a dispatch. Five minutes later, in a 
 seat in the smoking car of the one forty-five train, 
 he lighted a cigar, and seemed to find in reading 
 the telegram to J. H. Smith food for much cogita 
 tion. 
 
 But, the moment the train came to a stop in his 
 city, his mood of rumination dropped from him 
 like a cloak. He darted into a cab, and gave the 
 driver an address and an order to hurry. In ten 
 minutes he was alighting at the side door of a small 
 building over whose wicker-door at the front swung 
 a gilt sign adorned with the name of Matthew Casey. 
 
 Mat opened the door, and had him inside in a jiffy. 
 " As I hope t see hivin ! I m glad y ve come," he 
 exclaimed. " Fur there s hill t pay, an thet s no 
 loie." 
 
 Jimmy grasped the Irishman s hand. " Come on, 
 and be quick ! " he said. " Th parlor will do. Tell 
 them to let nobody in. I want to know everything 
 first, and nobody to know I m here." 
 
 Mat led the way into the little front room, pulled 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 406 
 
 down the blinds, and locked the door. " Mrs. 
 Casey s on guyard," he said. " T s over her did 
 body they must come t see y . An , now, I ll till y 
 all thet I know." 
 
 Then he told of the rumors he had heard, of 
 the meeting in Showell s office, and of how he had 
 tried to get a message to Mrs. Doran. Then he 
 went on, with an attempt at self restraint which was 
 so palpable that a fleeting smile hovered on Jimmy s 
 face; 
 
 " But th sicond toime Oi saw Mishter Doran there 
 wuz an onplisant occurrence. T came av his on- 
 handiness on his feet. As he wuz not prissin me wid 
 invitations t see Mrs. Doran, which same Oi wuz 
 decided on, misdoubting thet his mimory had 
 failed him r gardin th delivery av th missage t 
 her Oi tried, purlite loike, t intro juice mesilf nt 
 th house. Thin, he praceedin me an Oi followin , 
 some way he gave me a shove. T s not a blow Oi 
 will call t, fur shame av th results; but t s none 
 th less thrue, thet Oi fill against th dure, an , git- 
 tin up, grabbed a holt av somethin , t stiddy mesilf, 
 which, later, Oi discovered wuz his neck. So, in 
 th dark, neyther wan av us bein shure av where th 
 other wuz, we b gun t feel wid our hands. An mine 
 wuz shut loike fur fear av brakin me finger nails. 
 T wuz be th same token thet Oi begin t push out wid 
 me hand agin an agin quite gintle-loike, y ll under- 
 sthand, an he begun t holler, an push out wid his 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 407 
 
 hand in th same way me a holdin ont his neck 
 all th toime, y e see forninst his fallin down, an 
 hurtin hisself. T wuz will Oi did th same, too; 
 for, prisintly, whin Oi pursaved thet his intintion 
 wuz t show me thet t wuz too late t be comin in, 
 Oi let go, an , sthraightway, be some coinceedence, he 
 fill on th flure, a yellin an a groanin . An , thin, 
 an , thin Oi come away seein me pursasions wuz 
 av no avail an me intintions misundersthood." 
 
 Jimmy s eyes were glistening. He found no fault 
 with Casey s loquacity. Even his anxiety was not 
 proof against the unction which underlay those 
 apologetic words ; and he registered a mental vow of 
 indebtedness to the Irishman. But time was press 
 ing, and he fell to questioning Casey upon succeed 
 ing events. 
 
 It was half an hour later that Jimmy, after a 
 silence of several minutes, said, " Well, Mat, it 
 looks as if they had us this time, sure enough! I 
 didn t think Showell had th nerve to do this. May 
 be, I can convince him, even yet, that he ought to 
 change his mind. But Walsh ? Well, I was only 
 a year or so out on him. Now, what are we going 
 to do?" 
 
 Casey s face was a network of wrinkles. Then 
 the beginning of a smile whisked them away. 
 " There s wan thing we moight do," he replied. 
 " Retoire frum the soight av an ongrateful public t 
 th ase an comfurts av privut loife ? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 408 
 
 " Which," returned Jimmy; " is th one thing we 
 won t do, yet eh?" 
 
 Casey s smile widened. 
 
 "You gave those messages I telegraphed you?" 
 went on Jimmy. 
 
 " Oi ve not caught up wid mesilf since Oi stharted 
 home frum deeliverin th last wan av thim." 
 
 Just then Mrs. Casey rapped on the door. Casey 
 opened it cautiously. Mrs. Casey stepped inside, 
 and closed the door. " O Rourke says," she an 
 nounced; " thet s there s a gintl min in th barroom 
 thet won t drink ixcipt Mat s prisint." 
 
 " T s th first av th min y bade me till t come 
 here," elucidated Casey. " There s a back-dure, frum 
 th bar-room in here, an I tould them t prisint thim- 
 silves at th bar. T would avoid publicity wuz me 
 idea." 
 
 Jimmy nodded. " You didn t fail me, Mat," he 
 said. " See who it is, and bring him in here if he s 
 all right." 
 
 Casey slipped out, and shortly returned with a 
 bigmian with hawk nose and searching eyes. Jimmy 
 grasped the newcomer s hand. " I m glad you came, 
 right off, Morley," was his greeting. " Pratt will 
 be here soon, I expect, and Duane and Jones. Then, 
 we ll be able to come to an understanding, if that s 
 possible. I suppose, you know where I stand? " 
 
 Morley, who was one of four men who practically 
 controlled the minority party s policy within the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 49 
 
 city, said he had an idea of the situation. "But 
 not a clear one," he added. " Walsh and Showell 
 didn t think they needed me very badly, I guess. I 
 learned nothing from them. Gans did make some 
 sort of offer, but it wasn t good enough for us. When 
 I told him so, he dropped th subject right off. They 
 think they re strong enough without our cooperation. 
 Maybe they are." 
 
 " Maybe," responded Jimmy ; but his tones be 
 tokened no dejection. " We ll be better able to say 
 that after we talk things over." 
 
 A little later the three other men arrived. 
 
 Exactly what went on in Mrs. Casey s front par 
 lor that night no one but the five who were there 
 ever knew. The china pig which squatted on the 
 plush lambrequin held many confidential conversa 
 tions across the mantel with the china cat. But both 
 of these eavesdroppers were dumb when others were 
 by ; and so was the stuffed terrier under the bell-glass 
 at the end of the room which regarded the proceed 
 ings with a wise eye. To Mrs. Casey the parlor 
 ever afterward had a mysterious atmosphere. Casey 
 himself spoke of it to his wife as " the Boss s room." 
 But even Casey could make but a shrewd guess as 
 to the precise terms of the preliminary agreement, 
 which, at four o clock in the morning, caused Jimmy 
 to shake hands warmly with each of his conferees, as 
 they left the room and passed out into the gray light 
 beginning to bathe the sleeping city. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 410 
 
 Casey had been called into the conference several 
 times to tell what he knew of doubtful points. For 
 the rest of the time he sat in the hallway, and held 
 the post of door guard which Mrs. Casey surrendered 
 at midnight. 
 
 When the door had closed behind the last of his 
 visitors Jimmy turned on Casey. There were rings 
 under his eyes and heavy lines about his mouth ; his 
 face was more gray than ever Casey remembered to 
 have seen it. But his spirits were high; his voice 
 was hearty and ringing. It fairly made Casey s 
 heart leap by its confidence. 
 
 " Mat, everything s going well ; but we won t 
 make any noise about it. Th sign over your saloon 
 door 11 be all th advertisement of my whereabouts 
 we ll need for a couple of days. If anyone comes 
 into th bar-room, and will drink with no one but 
 me, do you look em over, and let me know. If 
 they re safe, you can bring em in here through 
 that side door. This room is where I ll do business 
 on th quiet." 
 
 " A sort av spake-aisy ? " suggested Casey with 
 a wink. 
 
 And a " speak-easy," in one sense, the little room 
 was for the next day and the day after that. Not a 
 great many found their way to it ; but none of those 
 who did were barred. Casey s swinging sign was 
 to be read only by the initiated, and the initiated kept 
 its secrets faithfully. So close-mouthed were they 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 411 
 
 that, two days after Jimmy had arrived, the city at 
 large, and Walsh, Showell and Cans in particular, 
 heard for the first time of his whereabouts. The 
 intelligence was conveyed to them by a despatch 
 printed in a certain newspaper from its corre 
 spondent at Plainville. This telegram announced 
 that James Devlin, it had just been learned, had 
 been spending two weeks at Sea Cliff a forgotten, 
 little watering-place and would return to his home 
 city that night, his holiday being over. 
 
 The next morning, sure enough, Jimmy was seen 
 on the street. He was sun-burned and smiling. 
 Showell purposely kept out of his path. Walsh met 
 him early, on his way to the office. 
 
 W r alsh s intention was to have the inevitable clash 
 over with at once. He knew that nothing was to 
 be gained now by a few hours postponement of it. 
 Furthermore, while he had no qualms for what he 
 had done, he felt that he would work with easier 
 mind when he and Jimmy faced each other as de 
 clared enemies. An encounter with the Boss was 
 not, at any time, an agreeable thing to look forward 
 to. So he braced himself for a collision when he saw 
 Jimmy approaching. 
 
 But Jimmy promptly put out a hand and beamed 
 on him. Before he realized it, the Judas got the 
 best of Walsh, and he was saying how glad he was 
 to see Jimmy back again. 
 
 " No gladder than I am to get back," returned 
 
 UNIVERSIT 
 
 OF 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 412 
 
 Jimmy. " I was having a great time away, too. 
 But, somehow I got to worrying th last few days. I 
 didn t see a paper while I was away, and I haven t 
 read em, or seen any of our people since I got back. 
 But well, I got to thinking of Cans down there, 
 and wondering if he and th rest was up to anything, 
 and could have shut your eye up." He winked at 
 this tremendous joke. 
 
 Walsh laughed shortly; and Jimmy hastened to 
 say, " Oh, I know, you can look out for yourself ! 
 But you had my work to look out for this trip. 
 That must have made it pretty hard. I tell you, I ll 
 not take a holiday again at a time like this. It isn t 
 fair to you and Showell." 
 
 His voice was self-accusing; his face apologetic. 
 Walsh, watching him from the tail of his eye, 
 marveled that he had ever credited him with 
 acuteness beyond the rest of mankind. Walsh culti 
 vated a taste for the philosophy of the cynic ; there 
 fore, he found some pleasure in recognizing, in this 
 stage of the covert struggle between Jimmy and 
 himself, a clear demonstration of the doctrine of the 
 survival of the fittest. 
 
 " Oh, that s all right," he said, replying to Jimmy. 
 " Your vacation did you good. You ve come back, 
 ready to do double work, I daresay. You ll make 
 up for whatever I ve done for you." 
 
 " You bet I will, old man ! " returned Jimmy 
 eagerly. " I never felt in such shape for a scrap as 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 413 
 
 I do now. I ll even up th score as quick as I 
 
 can." 
 
 Walsh said he d see Jimmy a little later ; he had an 
 engagement to keep just then. He hastened to 
 Showell. " You ll think you re Jimmy s long-lost 
 brother, when he sees you," he declared. " It s really 
 almost a kindness to knock him out," he added, half 
 in earnest. " He s only fit for retirement." 
 
 Walsh laughed over this and at Showell s sickly 
 smile. Showell was not as confident as he might be. 
 But, perhaps, this was only because Showell had not 
 seen Jimmy since the spell of credulity fell upon 
 him; and was sceptical. Walsh himself knew that 
 Jimmy s unsuspecting composure would not survive 
 the day. When Casey had told him of the message he 
 had brought to Marcus, or some one called his at 
 tention to the rumors of double-dealing, now so per 
 sistent, Jimmy would be deceived no longer. This 
 deception was delightful while it lasted; the out 
 break which would follow the awakening would be 
 quite different. 
 
 Nor was Walsh mistaken. That same afternoon 
 he met Jimmy on the street, and the explosion which 
 ensued justified all expectations. But, for all that 
 was to be deduced from Jimmy s words and manner 
 at the time of the encounter, no one w r ould have 
 guessed that his discovery of the treachery was 
 now three days old. He informed Walsh of what he 
 had heard, and declared that he could not believe it. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 414 
 
 Walsh replied that all he had related was true. 
 He had broken away. " Do you remember an elec 
 tion for Sheriff, a few years ago ? " he added. " I 
 haven t forgotten it, if you have. I imagine, we ll 
 be nearly quits on that score when this campaign is 
 finished." 
 
 " It seems to me that I do remember something 
 of th kind," replied Jimmy. " But, I remember, 
 too, that you had fair warning before that election 
 that you wouldn t be elected. / never lied to you; 
 you have lied to me. Much good may it do you ! " 
 
 After this meeting Jimmy was silent on the sub 
 ject of his betrayal, so silent that Walsh was uneasy 
 for several days. He cheered himself by reviewing 
 the situation. Twist this as he would, he could 
 foresee nothing but a crushing defeat for Jimmy. 
 
 The entire city was aroused as never before by a 
 municipal election. The count made in advance by 
 the most conservative of political observers showed 
 that those who were supposed to remain faithful to 
 the old regime were out-numbered two to one. Most 
 of the newspapers championed the cause of " reform," 
 as it was called. It was an excellent occasion for the 
 ventilation of highly moral views upon the degener 
 acy of politics, the oppression of " Bossism," and 
 the might of a " free-born people." Moreover, the 
 gratitude of Jimmy was soon like to be worth little, 
 so far as political advertising in the public prints 
 was concerned. His enmity was something to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 415 
 
 which, in the near future, one might be politely in 
 different. 
 
 One newspaper remained staunch to him; two 
 others preserved a judicial discrepancy between their 
 news columns and editorial pages. This was a sort 
 of sheet anchor which the publishers cast to wind 
 ward against a sudden veering of the political gale. 
 
 The Administration, which owed its offices to 
 Jimmy in large part, exhibited the powers of the 
 chameleon. 
 
 Kate read the newspapers with an earnestness that 
 had small reward. She did not understand politics, 
 and cared nothing for them. She had seldom thought 
 of Jimmy as a politician. When she did, it was as 
 a sort of engineer who controlled a machine which 
 never got out of order or did things that he did not 
 wish it to do. Now, she realized, that Jimmy was 
 part and parcel of this machine, and that there was 
 danger of it doing him a serious injury. So, know 
 ing him as she did, she understood that what 
 threatened was bitter to him beyond any words he 
 was likely to speak. 
 
 She was terribly anxious. She tried to find out 
 from Jack what the situation really promised, but 
 his replies were vague. He knew nothing about the 
 rumored treachery of Walsh and Showell beyond 
 what was talked of on the street ; and this he did not 
 credit. He was sure that Jimmy was all right. 
 
 Jack had been away from the house on the night 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 416 
 
 that Marcus had the encounter with Casey; and 
 Kate had been careful not to betray her knowledge 
 of that night s proceedings. Her part in them was 
 a particular secret. She could not explain to her 
 self just why it was that she was reluctant to speak 
 of what, on the face, was a perfectly natural and 
 proper thing to do for such an old friend. Yet 
 reluctant she always was to confess to Jack that 
 she had any interest personally in Jimmy. It was a 
 diffidence that made her shame- faced at times; and 
 in which, again, she secretly exulted. 
 
 It may have been that some of this diffidence was 
 bound up in the treachery of Marcus. She had 
 no feeling for him but loathing, yet she recoiled 
 from the suggestion of exposing him. She acqui 
 esced silently in his lamely-spoken explanation of 
 the cause of the fight between Casey and himself. 
 She apprehended danger in allowing him to know 
 that she had sent the message to Jimmy which he 
 had tried to withhold. Her contempt for him was 
 too deep to be voiced in recriminations. She dreaded 
 an altercation in which he would defend himself by 
 attacking her with sneers and insinuations which 
 would make her cheeks burn. 
 
 To be sure, she had received word from Jimmy 
 on the day after she sent the telegram to him. But 
 his response was so meagre that it left her all trem 
 bling with uncertainty. She learned from it just 
 enough to strengthen her fears that his danger was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 417 
 
 great so great that he had come privily to the city, 
 and could not call on her now. 
 
 Mrs. Mat Casey was his messenger. Mrs. Casey 
 had received guarded directions from Jimmy; and 
 she carried them out in her own way. The fitting 
 of one of those marvelous gowns, which she periodi 
 cally had made, furnished her with opportunity. 
 
 " Mrs. Doran," she asked, as she raised her pon 
 derous arms, and regarded herself approvingly in 
 the mirror; " Mrs. Doran, did y ever kape a boardin 
 house?" 
 
 " No," answered Kate; " I never did." She an 
 swered without thought, and immediately, inquired 
 if the waist-band suited her customer. 
 
 " Yis," replied Mrs. Casey, whose mind was on 
 her message and whose heart was begging for atten 
 tion to the gown. Yis, t suits me well nough, but, 
 but fur th loss av th parlur." 
 
 " Loss of the parlor? " began Kate in astonish 
 ment. Her mouth was full of pins; she looked up 
 at Mrs. Casey. The latter was again lost in admira 
 tion of her reflection. " Of your parlor? " queried 
 Kate. 
 
 " But Oi d loike f t had a bit more av a curve-in 
 front," Mrs. Casey said critically. 
 
 "More curve in the parlor?" interrogated 
 Kate. 
 
 " Curve in th waisht-band," corrected Mrs. 
 Casey. " Who said parlur?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 418 
 
 " You did," returned Kate. " You said curve 
 in the parlor; but the waist-band was what you 
 meant." 
 
 " Av course Oi did," agreed Mrs. Casey. She 
 realized now that she had been enticed from her 
 mission by the delights of her new dress. " T wuz 
 th waisht-band Oi mint; but twuz th parlur thet 
 wuz in me thoughts," she went on. " Fur Oi m 
 kapin a boardin -house now." 
 
 "Is that so?" 
 
 " Yis, an Oi ve got wan boarder thet s a quare 
 man." 
 
 Kate made no reply. She was on her knees, ad 
 justing the recalcitrant waist-band. 
 
 " He s a short, chunk av a man, wid blue eyes an 
 a smoile thet would take th heart out av y , wid ts 
 winnin ways," continued Mrs. Casey. 
 
 Kate was still wholly occupied with the dress- 
 band. 
 
 " An he drisses, fur all th wurruld, loike he wuz" 
 a Quaker, instid av th big man thet he is." 
 
 Mrs. Casey s persistence gained her point. Kate s 
 attention was distracted from the dress. " You re 
 talking of your boarder? " she asked. 
 
 "Av me boarder; av who ilse? Oi wuz tillin 
 y th kind av man he is. He came t me, lasht 
 noight, frum a place they call Say-Clip or Say- 
 Click, er somethin av th koind. T s on th say- 
 shore, an he s bin spindin a wake there. T s 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 419 
 
 longer he would have spint there, too, O im afther 
 thinkin , i he hadn t bin sint fur, suddint loike." 
 
 Kate s thoughts had come to a focus. She 
 looked at Mrs. Casey sharply, but that lady s atten 
 tion was riveted on the glass. Mrs. Casey rejoiced 
 irf a bit of mystery, and she was loth to surrender 
 the privileges of her present office. Kate was balked, 
 but her heart and mind both were now on the sus 
 picion aroused by her customer s last words. 
 
 "Was it Sea Cliff? Was it Sea Cliff your 
 new boarder came from ? " she asked. 
 
 " Oi disremimber entoirely," Mrs. Casey rejoined. 
 " But Oi wisht I c d go there. T must be a beau 
 tiful place. Do y loike th sayside, Mrs. Doran?" 
 
 " Yes," said Kate, and then, quickly, " But this 
 man your new boarder what is his name ? " 
 
 Mrs. Casey assumed an expression of profound 
 cogitation. She began to shake her head slowly. 
 " Now, ain t thet quare? " she said, almost as if to 
 herself. " Thet s certainly quare ! Oi can t think 
 av his name. Let s see! T wuzn t Jones; an 
 twuzn t Smith, an twuzn t Killy. I m shure av 
 those. Nur, twuzn t Daniel, nur Dixon, nur " 
 
 "Was it was it Devlin?" asked Kate. She 
 bent to pick up some cuttings on the floor. 
 
 " Divilin Divilin ? Now, Oi do belave, thet wuz 
 his name," replied Mrs. Casey slowly. She could see 
 only the top of Kate s head; but the tremble of the 
 hand that groped on the floor was detected, and she 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 420 
 
 added promptly, " Yis, Divilin twuz, Oi m shure. 
 An , now Oi riccolict his front-dure name. Twuz 
 James!" 
 
 "He s at your house, you say?" questioned 
 Kate. " I is that where he usually stays ? " 
 
 Now, Mrs. Casey knew not over what depths she 
 might be treading ; but she did know that these were 
 not of her concern, and that her business was to 
 make her message clear before she left. So she an 
 swered plainly, " No, thet s not where he ginirally 
 sthays. He has rooms, av his own, in th city, Oi 
 b lave. But this toime he had raisons fur not wantin 
 his prisince in town t be known, Oi m afther 
 thinkin . At layst, t s shure Oi am thet he s not put 
 th toe av his boot out av th dure av me house since 
 he came." 
 
 Kate raised her face to that of Mrs. Casey. 
 Mrs. Casey tried to retain the mask of placidity, but 
 in vain. A smile crept over her broad visage, her 
 huge frame shook. 
 
 " Is that all you know about this boarder? " in 
 quired Kate. She was smiling also. 
 
 " Indade, t s all me good intintions t him w d 
 permit me t know." 
 
 Kate understood. Mrs. Casey s boarder passed 
 from the conversation ; and the fitting of the gown 
 progressed more rapidly. 
 
 That afternoon, thinking over the morning s con 
 versation, Kate came to the conclusion that she had 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 421 
 
 been obtuse concerning the genesis of Mrs. Casey s 
 inordinate appetite for expensive dresses and mate 
 rial appreciation of her (Kate s) skill as a dress 
 maker. 
 
 Marcus did not learn of Jimmy s presence in town 
 until the latter showed himself on the street. But, 
 learning of it, he straightway posted to Jimmy s 
 office, and found the waiting-room there crowded. 
 The door to Jimmy s room was closed. He sat 
 down, intending to be the next one to enter. He 
 had several questions to ask; but, for a wonder, no 
 peremptory demand to make. 
 
 In point of fact, Marcus was in a state of uncer 
 tainty and apprehension which was as novel as it was 
 irritating to him. The rumors of a break between 
 Walsh and Showell and Jimmy had become so con 
 stant and definite that Marcus all but believed in 
 them. But he could not make himself believe that 
 he had been duped by Walsh, as this seemed to indi 
 cate. If he had been duped if he had been cozened 
 into helping to keep Jimmy from the city, and so 
 had aided in preventing his own nomination for 
 Councils where did he now stand ? He cared little 
 for the wrath that must have stirred in Jimmy when 
 Casey told him of that undelivered message ; but he 
 cared very much about Jimmy s position in politics. 
 On that now hung his own fate. For Walsh, he 
 perceived, would laugh in his face, if he went to 
 him, asking for anything. It remained to be learned 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 422 
 
 if Jimmy was powerless to do anything for him. 
 If so Marcus had not been able to see his way be 
 yond that chance. 
 
 As soon as the door opened, he slipped in, un 
 mindful of the call of the man whose turn it was; 
 and shut the door behind him. He slid into a seat. 
 He was nervous, and began at once. 
 
 " Is it true about Walsh and Showell and 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes," said Jimmy. " But drop that! You ve 
 come to see me about your nomination ? " 
 
 " Yes, th nomination you promised me th one 
 you tried to upset." 
 
 " What s that? " asked Jimmy quickly. 
 
 Marcus repeated his statement. " I got th truth 
 from Walsh," he added, defiantly. 
 
 " You did? " said Jimmy, his voice sinking. A 
 light came upon him. He saw why it was that 
 Marcus had turned against him. He set his gaze on 
 Marcus with an expression of mingled pity and con 
 tempt. Verily, the knave had overreached himself 
 for once ! In contemplation of this he almost forgot 
 the stroke which Marcus had leveled at him. Aloud, 
 he went on, " So, Walsh told you I d turned you 
 down behind your back, eh? Well " he paused 
 to enjoy Marcus s anxiety. " I didn t do it." 
 
 " You didn t turn me down ? I was on th 
 ticket," gasped Marcus. He almost wanted to say 
 that Jimmy lied because it became plain to him that 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 423 
 
 Walsh had made a fool of him that Con Mur 
 ray had done the same. That he was . Where 
 was he? " Then, I m on th ticket? " he asked. 
 
 " You were," corrected Jimmy. " But that ticket 
 went up when Walsh and Showell ." He did not 
 finish the sentence, but said : " You re not on the 
 ticket now" 
 
 "Why ain t I?" 
 
 " Because I couldn t nominate you couldn t elect 
 you, if I did." 
 
 Marcus grasped at a straw. He tried to put con 
 fidence in his assertion, " I don t believe you ! 
 You ve said that same before. You ve got " 
 
 " Hold on ! " broke in Jimmy. He knew that to 
 bandy words with Marcus was useless. He tried to 
 make him see the facts, hopeless as the task seemed. 
 " I tell you th exact truth," he said. " I can t do 
 what you want because it ain t in my power to do 
 it. You can threaten till you re blind in th face, 
 it makes no difference. Don t you know what this 
 fight means? Do you want to be defeated, and 
 knock me out at th same time? That s what your 
 nomination would help to do. Where will you be at, 
 if that happens ? Are you a fool as well as " He 
 stopped short, and stared. 
 
 And Marcus could not reply. Every word that 
 Jimmy had spoken struck him with the force of 
 truth. He remembered the incident of the Colonial 
 Club; he realized that Con Murray would never 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 424 
 
 have cut loose from him, if there had been a chance 
 of his election to Councils. He knew that he did not 
 stand well in his own ward. He had an idea which 
 was steadily growing, of the scope of this fight 
 against bossism. Jimmy s desperation, which had 
 made him acknowledge that defeat was likely, was 
 most convincing of all. These things pressed home 
 on Marcus, and, for the first time he did not push 
 his claim. 
 
 " Then, what are you going to do for me? " he 
 asked doggedly. 
 
 " I can t do anything for you now," replied 
 Jimmy, looking him squarely in the face ; wondering, 
 as he had been wondering for two days, how Marcus 
 would take a flat denial. 
 
 But Marcus made no threat. He leaned back in 
 his chair, his hands in his trousers pockets, his eyes 
 slowly reviewing the room. 
 
 How Jimmy wished that he might rise up then and 
 there, and declare, " And neither will I do anything 
 for you at any other time ! " But he did not dare. 
 He knew that his emancipation was but temporary. 
 It was bought at the price of his power ; it would be 
 over as soon as he had gifts to give. Perhaps, even 
 now, he was deluding himself, and Marcus was esti 
 mating how much in money he should demand as 
 salve for his disappointment. 
 
 An idea of this kind had come into Marcus s mind, 
 but he had postponed consideration of it until another 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 425 
 
 time. He decided to wait until it should be certain 
 that the usefulness of Jimmy as a political factor 
 was over. Besides, he had definite reasons of his 
 own for not pushing Jimmy too hard. 
 
 " I guess you are up against th wall, pretty 
 close," he said with a show of condescension that was 
 inexpressibly galling. " So I ll let up on you. When 
 you get things straightened out, if you do, I ll come 
 in and see you again." 
 
 But, in the two weeks that followed, if did not 
 seem as if Marcus was likely, ever again, to have the 
 chance to make use of Jimmy as a man with offices 
 to donate. The lines against Jimmy were drawn 
 tight and hard. His own people of the Water Trust 
 and the ring of " stalwarts " he rallied round him; 
 almost all 1 doubtful elements were attracted into the 
 camps of the enemy. The outlook, just before the 
 nominations were made, caused the betting to be two 
 to one in favor of Walsh and Showell and the Com 
 mittee of Fifty, jimmy became grim and taciturn, 
 but made his working days twenty and, often, twen 
 ty-four hours each. 
 
 And, then, a strange thing began to be whispered 
 about town. It made Walsh knit his brows and 
 breathe anathemas upon his credulity ; it administered 
 a check to the boasting of the impetuous members of 
 the Committee of Fifty. But, also, it made most of 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 426 
 
 these throw themselves into the struggle with greater 
 energy than before. 
 
 So, when the primary elections which Jimmy so 
 lately had dominated were held, and resulted, with 
 out hitch or dissenting voice, in the nomination of 
 the candidates proposed by Walsh and his allies, 
 confidence was born afresh among the reformers. 
 
 But, a few days after this, the old whisper of 
 strange things to happen was revived with startling 
 distinctness. A week later, it had become a loud 
 voice. Ten days later it proclaimed itself at the 
 primary elections of the minority party. The ticket 
 presented then and unanimously supported was one 
 of compromises, and of names potent with Democrat 
 and Republican alike. 
 
 All eyes once more were turned on Jimmy. There 
 was shaking of heads. " Why, half th men on this 
 ticket," said Walsh to Showell, as he read the list 
 of men nominated at the minority primaries, " Half 
 th men here are th same ones that Jimmy had on 
 th ticket we three set up with him, before he left 
 on that vacation. Damn him ! " 
 
 Jimmy was beset by reporters. " This ticket of 
 the minority party? What did he think of it? " 
 
 " Think of it ? " said Jimmy, with his old twinkle 
 in his eyes. " Oh ! it s a right good sort of a ticket. 
 I d call it a return ticket. Anyway, some people 
 say it s th one that brought me home from th sea 
 shore." 
 
CHAPTER XXII 427 
 
 JACK DORAN, one arm on the banister, watched 
 a vision in pink and white descend the stair 
 way. Her arms gleamed through the tulle 
 from which rose her gracious neck. Her head, 
 crowned with brown curls, now sedately piled, was 
 held proudly, yet not so high but that a pair of danc 
 ing eyes rested on the face turned up to hers. Two 
 long stemmed roses nodded at her shoulder. She 
 waved her fan by way of greeting, a moment later 
 paused beside him, and extended a slender 
 hand. 
 
 " Wherefore, so mournful ? And at the first dance 
 of the autumn ! " she exclaimed. " Dick, here, was 
 afraid you would tell us that the orchestra had struck 
 or the caterer run away with the supper." 
 
 " Nothing so terrible as that, Molly," he returned. 
 " If I looked mournful it was because I knew how 
 few dances I was to have with you." 
 
 You deserve an extra one for that; and you 
 shall have it." 
 
 " May it be the supper march ? " 
 
 " I have that," said Dick Cans promptly. 
 
 "Then the first waltz?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 428 
 
 Molly consulted the dancing card which dangled 
 from her wrist by a silken string. " That is taken, 
 too/ she said. She did not say by whom it was 
 taken, but Dick s complacent smile was tell-tale. 
 " But you shall have the first galop," she promised. 
 " And, if you want another one, Mr. Gravity, you 
 had best speak now or else forever after hold your 
 peace. You see, I am not a bit vain." 
 
 Jack took the dancing card. In a half a dozen 
 places he saw the initials D. G. Whatever he 
 thought of this his face told nothing. He pencilled 
 his name opposite three numbers which were un 
 claimed and which she said he might have. 
 
 " So you don t want that extra dance, after all? " 
 she remarked, looking over his shoulder. 
 
 " Yes, you know I do, if it is still due me." He 
 initialled another dance number, and dropped the 
 card. " That is a beautiful dress," he added, his eye 
 traveling over it with critical approval. 
 
 " Do you like it ? I am glad. I wore this espe 
 cially for you and the other men." 
 
 He continued to regard her with grave pleasure. 
 She turned herself about slowly, holding her chin 
 up. It was a favorite trick. He remembered the 
 first time he had seen her do it. " Very good," he 
 said. " Each view of that gown is better than the 
 one before." 
 
 " And the girl? " She looked at him with raised 
 brows. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 429 
 
 " The girl is worthy of any gown." 
 
 Dick Gans interrupted impatiently, " The music 
 has begun for that waltz." 
 
 Molly gave Jack a saucy nod over her shoulder as 
 she moved away. " Be careful or you will be mis 
 taken for chief mourner," she flung back at him. 
 
 But his face did not change as he watched her pass 
 through the line of men at the doorway of the danc 
 ing room. A faint smile had parted his lips, but his 
 eyes were sober. In evening dress he made a hand 
 some, manly figure. He looked to be twenty-eight; 
 he had but just passed his twenty-fifth year. His 
 face had taken on a strength and seriousness that 
 became it, yet which puzzled some of those who knew 
 him. Even The Only Girl had failed to satisfy her 
 self entirely of the reason for this sobriety. It was 
 Jack, as he had always been, polite and heedful of 
 her comfort and pleasure, but Jack with something 
 sitting on his brow which it did not seem should 
 be there. If this disquieted her, it did not lessen her 
 mischievous attempts upon his self-possession. 
 
 She, too, had her sedate moments, but these did 
 not subdue her gaiety at other times. Her thrusts 
 were as keen and sure as ever; her intentions, when 
 she willed it, as difficult to anticipate. 
 
 But Jack, as the hem of the pink and white gown 
 was whisked out of sight, said to himself, " Molly ! 
 Molly! how I wish it could be always as it is to 
 night!" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 430 
 
 It was a strange remark to make of The Only Girl 
 when she was in the company of a man who had 
 annexed more than a fair share of her society for the 
 evening, but, then Jack, in some ways, was a queer 
 fellow. He had done a great deal of quiet thinking 
 in the four months past. Molly had been away for 
 that time at the sea shore, or in the country. He 
 had seen her to talk with but twice since the day in 
 June when he told her about his father. It was his 
 own fault that this had been so; more than once she 
 had asked him to come to see her. His replies had 
 been that he was too busy at the Bank to leave, or 
 that he had agreed to go fishing with another man 
 during his holiday. This last would not have been 
 true if he had written to her any earlier than he did. 
 But it served to remove the temptation which, for 
 all his determination, he would otherwise have suc 
 cumbed to. It required many sacrifices to be true to 
 his promise to be " just a good friend." Nor was 
 his position changed. Nothing had happened, as 
 nothing could happen, from his point of view, to 
 make his duty less plain. The removal of his father 
 from the pillory on which public opinion had fixed 
 him when he was a candidate for City Councils had 
 not made him any the less his father. 
 
 If Jack had not been the healthy animal he was, 
 if his inheritance from his mother had not been a 
 cheerful heart and industrious hands, he would have 
 grown morose. He had passed the days of the sum- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 431 
 
 mer in hard work at the Bank and most of the eve 
 nings in his mother s company. But he had his re 
 bellious hours. 
 
 In the early days of October Mr. Chambers opened 
 his country house, and twice Jack journeyed out there 
 because Molly called him and excuses failed him. 
 As luck would have it, on one of these occasions 
 Dick Cans was also present; on the other he heard 
 things said upon which he placed his own construc 
 tion. Dick and Molly, he decided, if they were not 
 already engaged, had an understanding which was 
 its equivalent in general opinion. Tom Rowell s 
 scepticism did not dissuade him. Tom had volun 
 teered, " Jack, it s clear you don t know Molly. 
 She d speak out if that was so. I don t understand 
 her myself always; but, I m dead sure, it isn t Dick 
 now, at any rate." 
 
 Jack had smiled. Tom was a good-hearted chap. 
 " I haven t said she was engaged," he returned. 
 
 " No, but you think it. Come ! I m not blind, 
 Jack. Keep a stiff upper lip. As for Molly, she 
 thinks a lot of you. That didn t strike you, eh? " 
 
 Jack smiled again, but it was all on his lips. His 
 eyes darkened despite his endeavor. " Yes, Molly 
 is a good friend," he said. " I know that." He 
 clapped Tom on the shoulder to show him that he 
 understood that they shared in her good opinion. 
 
 But on this night of the dance at the Country 
 Club he could not close his mind to the hopes quick- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 432 
 
 ened in him as he watched his Princess come toward 
 him down the stairway of the Club house. Her 
 chaffing words were very precious to him. When 
 he surrendered her to Dick, after his first dance with 
 her, and saw her float away, her head tilted back, 
 saying something in undertones to her partner, he 
 shook his shoulders, and wandered downstairs to the 
 smoking room. Half an hour must elapse before he 
 could claim her again; he did not care to dance with 
 anyone else; he could not stand by and see her with 
 another man. Doubtless, it would have surprised 
 him to learn that these arguments had been used be 
 fore. 
 
 In the smoking room were half a dozen men whom 
 he did not know, and he found himself listening to 
 them while he smoked. 
 
 " Well, I see that Devlin s got one of his old allies 
 back/ remarked one of the men. 
 
 " Showell ? Yes. It doesn t surprise me. Dev 
 lin s worth the whole crowd when it comes to clever 
 ness." 
 
 " And Showell s always after the biggest slice. 
 He worked by Devlin s side so long that he must 
 have a pretty good idea of what the present fight 
 promises. I m only astonished that Walsh let his 
 confederate slip through his fingers." 
 
 " Walsh couldn t help it, or he would," put in a 
 third man. " Showell, I imagine, got frightened, 
 and concluded that there wasn t anything in it for 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 433 
 
 him in sticking by Walsh and the reformers. Devlin 
 might win, you know ? " 
 
 " It s a toss-up," said the first speaker. " Devlin 
 has every man in that Water Works gang behind 
 him. They ve only to read the newspapers and post 
 ers to find out that the Water Works is a goner if 
 Walsh and the Committee win. The Water Works 
 people are working with a halter round their necks ; 
 they re working for their own lives as well as for 
 Devlin. So they re not likely to be scrupulous." 
 
 " A good many fellows in City Councils are in 
 the same box," chimed in another man. " But they ll 
 do Devlin s bidding as long as he s boss. After that 
 out they go. It s a cut-throat game all round." 
 
 "And it started," philosophized the first man; 
 " because Devlin used his fist in behalf of a low 
 lived, miserable hanger-on named Doran." 
 
 " I like Devlin for that blow," commented a fourth 
 man. " But just the same, considered politically, 
 he was all kinds of a fool to strike it." 
 
 " Well, I don t know. We can t tell what was 
 back of it, between Devlin and Doran, I mean. 
 Now," 
 
 Jack jumped up, and strode out of the room. He 
 went to the dancing floor. 
 
 Molly, radiant and talking rapidly, was sitting in 
 a corner. The music began again. He called her 
 attention to her dancing card. " Yes, this is yours," 
 she said, and they glided away. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 434 
 
 Jack did not analyse his emotions as he looked 
 down into her face and felt the gloved hand that 
 rested lightly on his arm. An intoxication swept 
 away harassing recollections. He knew only that 
 he was with her, and wished that they might dance 
 on so forever. But they had traversed the room but 
 twice when she pleaded fatigue. " Besides," she 
 said, " I want to talk with you. Let s find a con 
 fidential corner. Or maybe, you have someone else 
 to look out for? " 
 
 His face was answer enough. So they explored 
 the gallery and the smaller room adjoining the danc 
 ing floor. There were chairs in both places in plenty 
 and more than one inviting corner; but none of 
 them met with her approval. Apparently, she knew 
 just what she sought. They went out on the broad 
 piazza which ran along the front of the building. 
 It overlooked the tennis field, and, in summer, was 
 a favorite place for dining when the sun hid itself 
 behind the hills. Now it was closed in with glazed 
 shutters over which hung crimson curtains. Two 
 big stoves made it genially warm. At the far end 
 a double line of palms and potted shrubbery screened 
 an angle of the wall. 
 
 Molly halted instantly. " The very place ! " she 
 exclaimed. " Now, get me two chairs, Jack nice 
 stretchy ones. For I want to be comfortable; I ve 
 danced so much." 
 
 With a little backward glance, as if she feared 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 435 
 
 some one would see her do this daring thing, she 
 parted the foliage. She daintily lifted her skirts, 
 giving a glimpse of a slim, arched instep, and stepped 
 inside. Through the leafy screen she called softly 
 to him, " It s lovely. We will be able to see every 
 body, and nobody can see us. Hurry, hurry back! 
 And don t forget the chairs that are stretchy." 
 
 He went to hunt for them, but he was almost un 
 conscious of what he did. Mazie Bradford nodded 
 knowingly at him, but he saw her not. He was in 
 a dream. Then, suddenly recalling Molly s fondness 
 for plaguing him, he halted in front of the line of 
 shrubs. Of course, she had slipped away as soon 
 as his back was turned. He put down the chairs, 
 and would, if he could, have sauntered off without 
 investigation. But, as he halted, the rustle of a 
 skirt and a faltering, little whistle set him right. He 
 picked up the chairs quickly, and somehow managed 
 to put them within the retreat of the whistler. But 
 he bungled badly. Air is an unstable footing, and 
 a guilty conscience does not steady trembling hands. 
 
 " Who was it, Jack? " she inquired casually as she 
 settled herself with much arranging of her skirts. 
 
 "Who was what?" 
 
 " The girl you remembered you wanted to go back 
 to just now when you stopped outside?" She 
 went on arranging her gown with little touches, here 
 and there, never lifting her eyes. When he did not 
 answer, she looked up. " Anyhow, I m not going to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 436 
 
 let you go to her just yet," she announced. " Sit 
 down, please. It s polite to do it, you know, when 
 a lady asks your company." 
 
 He sat down. He would have stood on his head, 
 or tried to, at the bidding of that pretty, imperious 
 voice. A delicious languor, which was not a 
 languor either; for his pulses thrilled and his heart 
 thumped, took possession of him. Molly and he 
 seemed to be shut off from all the rest of the world. 
 The soft light of a lamp outside filtered through the 
 leafy screen and checkered her gown. He could see 
 the sweet lines of her face in shadow. The music 
 drifted in on them, now and then, through an open 
 window. They could hear faintly a girl laughing 
 at the far end of the porch. 
 
 " Now, to pick my crow with you," Molly went 
 on. " Where were you for the past half hour? " 
 
 " In the smoking room." 
 
 " The smoking room? When dancing was going 
 on ? And you are so fond of dancing ! " 
 
 " I don t care much for it now." 
 
 " Oh, if that s so, you didn t miss anything. 
 There was a dance on my card untaken, a few 
 minutes ago while you were in the smoking room. 
 But it was just as well; I sat it out with a man 
 who didn t smoke." 
 
 A year ago Jack would have asked, "Who?" 
 Now he said, " I m sorry I wasn t there, if you d 
 have let me have that dance." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 437 
 
 " I don t know what I should have done, if you 
 had been there. It was a perfectly delicious dance; 
 but, then that man was a fine talker. And you 
 Well, I don t like to be made to weep at a dance. 
 And you Jack, why are you so changed? " 
 
 " Am I ? I suppose, I m getting older. Then, 
 you know, Molly, I m very much afraid of you." 
 
 " Is that the reason you stay away from me? " 
 
 " I never do that when I can help it." 
 
 " So all my invitations and your vacation, 
 and 
 
 " Came at the wrong time for me ? Yes. It 
 was too bad. You don t know how much I wished 
 it wasn t that way." 
 
 There was a stress in his voice which she was 
 quick to detect, though her suspicions were astray. 
 "Jack," she said quietly; "Jack, those reasons you 
 give aren t any reasons. Haven t we been friends 
 long enough for you to tell me the truth ? " 
 
 "I ve told you the truth," he replied. "I did 
 go on that fishing trip, as you know. I have been 
 very busy at the Bank." 
 
 She felt the change in his manner. If there had 
 been light enough she would have seen his mouth 
 tighten. If the light had been on her he would 
 have seen that in her eyes which might have broken 
 down his resolution, and made him pour out his 
 trouble at her feet. His lips were twitching and 
 his hands squeezed the arms of the chair. He was 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 438 
 
 conscious of intense relief when she said, " I m be 
 ginning almost to hate that Bank. It takes so much 
 of your time just when I want you and Tom. 
 Some day I m coming down there, and tell President 
 Jimmy what I think of it." 
 
 " He ll be glad to have your opinion." 
 
 " And go on doing his own way right afterwards. 
 You would do the same. Men are so wrapped up 
 in their old business." 
 
 He smiled. " Wouldn t you be wrapped up, if 
 you were interested in your work? " 
 
 " Y-e-s, I suppose, I would. It must be good to 
 have something you care so much for something 
 that you can go ahead in, and build up, and see 
 grow." 
 
 " I like it," he said promptly " The Bank means 
 a lot to me." 
 
 " You re assistant cashier now, aren t you ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And you intend to go on. You re going to ho 
 a banker always? " 
 
 " Yes, I mean to be." 
 
 " It must take a lot of patience. The President 
 is generally an old man." 
 
 " I will be President of the Union Bank some 
 day," he said simply. 
 
 She gave a little laugh. 
 
 " I mean it," he added. " I m going to be Presi 
 dent." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 439 
 
 " I like that," she said with a quick change of 
 manner. 
 
 "What? My work?" 
 
 " No, }rour confidence." 
 
 He said " Thank you," but he wanted to say much 
 more. 
 
 " But you mustn t get conceited," she admonished. 
 
 " I m not," he returned earnestly. " I ve made up 
 my mind, that s all." 
 
 " Do you get everything you make up your mind 
 to have?" 
 
 " Not al ways," he answered slowly, checking 
 the impulse which his ambitions and her sympathy 
 had unbound. " But there are some things I mean 
 to do. To be President of the Union Bank is one." 
 
 "To be rich is another?" 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 "And to marry some nice girl is another?" 
 
 " No, I am going to live with my mother." 
 
 There was a brief pause. Then she said, " Jack, 
 I want to meet your mother. I m coming to call 
 on her." 
 
 " Are you ? I m very glad of that. She would 
 like to meet you ever so much. You must come 
 soon. My mother is a great deal to me." 
 
 " I know she is. I hope she ll like me as much 
 as I m sure I ll like her." 
 
 " She couldn t help it," he replied. 
 
 " And we ll talk about you," Molly went on. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 440 
 
 " I ll tell her about your never marrying. Perhaps, 
 she ll tell me who it was." 
 
 "Who it was?" . 
 
 " Who it was that gave you your congJ." 
 
 " No one did that," he said gravely. 
 
 "Then, she s married to some one else? I m 
 so sorry." 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " Is she married to some one else ? " 
 
 No answer. 
 
 "Is she, Jack?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Or promised engaged to some one?" 
 
 They were playing the "Blue Danube." His 
 pulses throbbed with it. Molly was leaning toward 
 him, her chin was cradled in a hand. A band of 
 light fell across her hair; from the dusk below this 
 yellow ribbon her eyes sparkled. She repeated softly, 
 " Is she engaged, Jack ? " 
 
 " I don t know," he said hoarsely. 
 
 "Hasn t she told you anything?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " And you haven t asked her ? " 
 
 No answer. 
 
 "Why don t why don t you ask her, Jack?" 
 
 " It wouldn t do any good." 
 
 " Not if the girl wasn t engaged? " 
 
 He did not reply. 
 "Wouldn t it, Jack?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 441 
 
 " No no, it wouldn t ! " he cried almost fiercely. 
 
 " Are you sure? " she asked timidly. " Are you 
 sure, Jack? " 
 
 She waited, but he did not answer. She was still 
 leaning toward him, her lips parted, her eyes rest 
 ing on a tiny pleat which busy fingers had made in 
 her gown. A minute went by, and suddenly her 
 fingers were motionless, then closed tightly. She 
 straightened stiffly, and gave a little laugh. " What 
 an absurd suggestion I made ! " she exclaimed. 
 " The idea of asking a girl if she was engaged ! As 
 if she d tell you ! It was foolish." 
 
 " Yes, foolish," he repeated, without thinking of 
 the words. She seemed to be angry. He wondered. 
 
 " But you! You are foolish, too," she burst out. 
 " You are stupid! Stupid! Do you hear? You are 
 stupid! " She fairly flung the words at him. 
 
 "I suppose, I am," he said. " But I can t help 
 it. What have I done to make you angry? " 
 
 "Angry?" She tossed her head. Her face, for 
 an instant came into the light; he saw that her eyes 
 were scornful. He could not understand; for, it 
 seemed to him, that her lips quivered. " I am sorry 
 I was stupid," he said. " Will you forgive me? " 
 
 Dick Gans s voice reached them. " I m looking 
 for Miss Struthers; this is my dance." 
 
 " I think you ll find her in the gallery," replied 
 another voice. 
 
 They heard Dick move away. " I must go," said 
 
j. DEVLIN BOSS 442 
 
 Molly. " He ll come back here looking for me." 
 Jack started and clenched his hands. " And you 
 haven t got anything more to say to me, Jack? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " There isn t anything more to say/ he answered. 
 
 " Then the girl we spoke about is very sorry," 
 she said lingeringly, and parted the foliage of the 
 palms to pass through. 
 
 He was rising, his face white. She looked over 
 her shoulder; and, all at once, he was beside her. 
 " Molly," he said. " Molly, won t you give me one 
 of your roses to keep?" 
 
 Her hands went to the roses at her throat, and 
 hesitated. Then, she swiftly loosened one of the 
 flowers, and held it toward him. But she did not 
 release her hold on it. " You can have it," she 
 said slowly; "but you must never, never give it to 
 any one" 
 
 " I promise." 
 
 " Except to the girl you are going to marry." 
 
 He nodded. The rose lay in his hand, free. 
 
 She stepped through the screen of leaves. Dick 
 Gans came out of the nearest door. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 443 
 
 THE spectacle which followed the primary 
 elections in Jimmy s city that autumn was 
 almost unique in American politics. It 
 was that of a body of men, trained for almost any 
 thing but what they were at, giving time, thought 
 and energy to the overthrow of an organized politi 
 cal machine, which, for years, had held sway and 
 which had nearly every position of advantage at the 
 start. The aid which the Committee of Fifty got 
 from Walsh, while it was potential, lessened not 
 the suggestiveness of the spectacle. The reform 
 campaign, in the end, would have enforced the same 
 lesson. 
 
 Democracy has a latent power, which may slum 
 ber or be constrained for almost indefinite periods. 
 Its vitality, at times, may seem to be sapped, and the 
 querulous cries of a few of its professors be mis 
 taken for the dying protests of a once commanding 
 voice. But, so long as democracy obtains in name 
 and form, there is an abeyant force in it which has 
 to be reckoned with. In a day and a night it may 
 assert itself, and strike to the dust those who think 
 they have it bound, a sacrifice on the altar of their 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 444 
 
 personal ambitions. It realizes, in time, upon the 
 authority and resources which it has within it and 
 which make it ungovernable in the supreme moment. 
 
 Its temporal rulers rise and fall by virtue of the 
 capacity which they individually acquire, or lose, to 
 assimilate and direct, or sunder for a while, the units 
 of democracy. They never can disintegrate or per 
 manently emasculate it. They spring from its being ; 
 they exist by its approval or indulgence. They are 
 destroyed by its word. Their fate is bound up in 
 the inertia of voters. This inertia, once overcome, 
 the mighty tremble. The inert element is some 
 thing like a big rock, set firmly in its bed, ruggedly 
 strong; lending negative assistance to those forces 
 which oppose the laws by which it exists; passively 
 permitting itself, at times, to be surmounted. But 
 its foundations it never surrenders. The man who 
 would undermine it, in the end, it crushes in the pit 
 he has digged. 
 
 It was this element in the body politic which men 
 aced Jimmy. Whether he had tried to undermine it 
 must remain a point for commentators on his career. 
 The present chronicle can but state that it threatened 
 to crush him, and that Jimmy knew as well as any 
 one that he was in a struggle for his life. 
 
 For chronic reformers who wanted an ideal form 
 of government without the work of governing, who 
 believed that " politics " should be a spontaneous ex 
 pression of the preference of the civic mind, un~ 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 445 
 
 trammelled by party policies, free from the dictation 
 of any man or set of men making a business of 
 leadership for such reformers Jimmy had little 
 more than contempt. His reply to an inquirer who 
 asked him how he accounted for reformers was, 
 " Too many pegs for th holes." His experience had 
 been to prove that " reforms " seldom came to more 
 than a waste of white paper in the printing of treat 
 ises on " The Degradation of the Rights of Citizen 
 ship " and kindred subjects. 
 
 But they were not chronic reformers who now 
 cried out against his domination of the municipal 
 service. They were men who had allied themselves 
 with the traitors in his camp for a specific purpose. 
 Many of them, to be sure, took no trouble to vote 
 in a municipal election; yet their votes were their 
 own, and not to be reckoned on a ward tally-sheet. 
 Jimmy had referred to these voters when he said, a 
 long time before, " Th votes that are afraid of a 
 rainy day are th votes that sometimes make you 
 curse th sunshine." 
 
 Walsh, on his side, had many difficulties to con 
 tend with. The most disturbing of these were the 
 result of the defection of Showell. It was to count 
 eract the disheartening influences which this deser 
 tion had upon his personal following that he gave a 
 freer rein to these in the conduct of this uncertain 
 campaign. 
 
 The Committee of Fifty had been opposed to any 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 446 
 
 resort to the customary methods of exciting popular 
 enthusiasm. Walsh with difficulty had made the 
 Committee see that purely literary and oratorical 
 efforts would fail utterly with one class of voters 
 whose support they should have. He forced a re 
 luctant consent to make a torch-light campaign so far 
 as his charges were concerned. His first step, there 
 upon, was to organize what became known as " The 
 White Umbrellas." 
 
 " The White Umbrellas," at the start, enjoyed 
 a more high-sounding and definite title. But, with 
 the quick appreciation of a trained politician who 
 had uncommon native shrewdness, besides, Walsh 
 seized on the popular appellation which part of the 
 equipment of the organization at once earned for it; 
 and, as " The White Umbrellas " it was known 
 throughout the campaign. 
 
 The paraders were three hundred in number, each 
 man attired in ordinary street dress, and armed with 
 a white umbrella. Bill Brady who, despite increas 
 ing years, remained as active as a cat, led this march 
 ing club, and rejoiced in the office and its opportuni 
 ties. He headed it, as once he had headed a com 
 pany of troops in the South, with dauntless, chal 
 lenging front, itching always for a fight, managing 
 to make one often, notwithstanding many cautions. 
 Walsh was apprehensive of Brady s leadership, but 
 was alive to the important alliance which was thereby 
 cemented, and so did not interfere. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 447 
 
 Jimmy s men at first, derided the spectacle afforded 
 by " The White Umbrellas." They hurled words of 
 scorn at men whose heads, they declared, were too 
 soft to stand the sunlight. But, by and by, they 
 discovered that even a white umbrella has its uses 
 as a campaign insignia and often makes a capital 
 rallying banner. So trifling are the things which 
 move a crowd! Therefore, Jimmy, who was never 
 averse to borrowing a good idea from the enemy, 
 passed the word that a black umbrella would be 
 supplied to every man among his own followers; 
 and a marching club was formed whose designation 
 became " The Black Umbrellas." 
 
 From the day on which this organization appeared 
 on the streets one phase of the campaign was a per 
 sonal feud between the White and Black Umbrellas. 
 Twice there were clashes which left in the gutters 
 bunches of tangled wires, tattered black and white 
 ribbons and splintered sticks to identify the quondam 
 combatants. But no one was hurt seriously; and 
 Jimmy, who viewed the fights with keen distrust, 
 decided not to call his men off. He was convinced 
 that he would lose many votes by preventing his 
 people from parading. Yet he stood ready to inter 
 fere the minute that the thing took on a more violent 
 phase. 
 
 Jimmy was as watchful as ever. The general was 
 always uppermost in him. His face, at the start, 
 had been set against physical persuasion in politics; 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 448 
 
 his opposition to violence survived the temptation 
 to arouse its exponents in his behalf. Whether in 
 this he planned for the future, or was simply deter 
 mined to remain true to his principles, is not certain. 
 When his ideals were in question, he was inscrutable 
 to everyone but Kate. 
 
 Showell was one who had opportunity to know, 
 yet did not know the real Jimmy. Words, to 
 him, were what they spelled. If this had not been 
 so, who can say how much he might have deduced 
 from Jimmy s remarks one night, in that memor 
 able autumn. Showell and another man had been 
 in Jimmy s rooms. At two o clock in the morning 
 they started to leave. 
 
 Jimmy was standing by the window, drawing into 
 his smoke-laden lungs great draughts of the cool 
 night air. Suddenly, he said to the other two, who 
 were taking up their hats : " How many of those 
 fellows out there are really worrying about who wins 
 in this fight? Not many I guess! Yet, it means a 
 lot to them. I wonder if they ain t got th best end 
 of th thing, anyhow ? " 
 
 " A course, they ve got th best of it," grumbled 
 Showell. " We re workin an sweatin while they re 
 sleepin . I wish I was asleep now," he finished with 
 a yawn. 
 
 The other man laughed, and said lightly, " Get- 
 tin tired of politics, Jimmy? It s a first-rate time to 
 lay down an get out." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 449 
 
 Jimmy turned a white face on the speaker. His 
 eyes had none of their familiar sparkle; they held a 
 curious, wishful expression. 
 
 " There s worse things than being out of politics," 
 he said, dropping the words one by one. Then he 
 turned to the window again. He was looking over 
 the house-tops when the other men left the room. 
 
 In one of those houses toward which his gaze was 
 directed on this night sat Marcus Doran, alone, try 
 ing to decide what he should do. His action hinged 
 on the outcome of the campaign, now within three 
 days of its close. If Jimmy won, Marcus was sure 
 of what his course should be, and of what he should 
 enjoy. But he was exceedingly dubious of the effect 
 of a defeat. Moreover, this was a catastrophe 
 against which he should prepare. His perceptions 
 were not so dull that he did not realize Jimmy s ex 
 tremity. And he believed, with some reason, that 
 the political downfall of the latter would entail his 
 financial ruin. This being granted, he did not intend 
 that Jimmy should be " plucked " before he got the 
 share of the spoils which he regarded as his own. 
 There still remained, however, the question which 
 for several weeks, he had turned over in his mind : 
 Was it wiser to wait, and hazard his chances on the 
 result of the election? Or, while the issue was yet 
 unsettled, strike the blow which must be his last, 
 and secure all that he could thereby ? 
 
 On this night, as he lounged in the sitting-room 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 450 
 
 of his home, he reflected on the situation for several 
 hours, and, in the end, decided that he would risk 
 nothing. Jimmy should be made to pay handsomely 
 while he was able to do so. 
 
 In his pocket Marcus had a slip of paper which he 
 had discovered in Kate s desk after many roundabout 
 questions and a long search. It was a small bit of 
 paper with a few words scrawled on it, but he be 
 lieved, with good reason, that it was something for 
 whose return at least three people would give a great 
 deal, if his intentions were known. It had been in 
 the keeping of one person for years. Reflection 
 upon its place of deposit and the ignorance of its 
 guardian caused him much amusement. 
 
 With it in his possession at noon on the following 
 day, he walked into the Bank. He spoke through 
 the Cashier s window to Jack, " I d like to see you 
 out here a moment." 
 
 Jack, knitting his brows at this unexpected call 
 and request, came from behind the netted counter. 
 They walked over to a window embrasure. 
 
 " I want you to get me th package that this re 
 ceipt calls for," said Marcus, tendering the slip of 
 paper. 
 
 Jack took the paper, and read what was on it. He 
 identified the handwriting at once, and knew where 
 the package called for was to be found. But that 
 increased his hesitation. " This receipt is in my 
 mother s name," he said. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 451 
 
 " Exactly. She gave the package to Jimmy, for 
 me, years ago, as you will see from th date there." 
 
 " She must call for it herself, then, or send a 
 written release." 
 
 " No, I don t want her to know anything about 
 it" 
 
 Jack folded the paper, and held it out. " Then 
 I can do nothing for you," he said. " It is against 
 Bank rules to do what you ask." 
 
 His father was looking out the window, and 
 ignored the extended receipt. " It s what I expected 
 you d say," he remarked. " And, I suppose, you re 
 right. " But ," he paused, and jerked his head 
 round; " I m in trouble a bad hole." 
 
 Jack waited for him to go on, but he did not. He 
 had turned away his face again. " What is it?" 
 asked Jack, his voice uncompromising. 
 
 " Never mind what? " replied his father. " The 
 thing is th papers in that package can save me. If 
 I don t get them" 
 
 "Well, what?" 
 
 "I ll go to jail; that s all." He gave a hard 
 laugh. Jack started; his set face grew more pale. 
 
 " You don t like th sound of that eh? " said his 
 father. " It s th truth, just th same. Th lam 
 basting I got when I was a candidate for Councils 
 won t be a marker to th things they ll say if I go 
 up for a couple of years. And you and your tony 
 friends" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 452 
 
 l They are not concerned with this," Jack inter 
 rupted swiftly. There was a glint in his eyes. 
 
 " All right, leave em out. But there s your 
 mother. It does concern her a little, I suppose." 
 
 Jack started and drew in his breath sharply. 
 Yes, your mother," went on his father. " I 
 don t think she d worry much about me, but it isn t 
 pleasant to have a convict for a husband, and " 
 
 You don t need to go on. I understand : I have 
 had plenty of chance to learn what it means." 
 
 Then you d rather get th package for me? I 
 thought so." 
 
 " I can t get the package," Jack returned slowly. 
 " This receipt is Mr. Devlin s personal acknowledg 
 ment. The package is in his private box in the vault. 
 He is out of town to-day. To-morrow I might " 
 
 " That won t do me any good," broke in Marcus 
 roughly. " I ll be hauled in to-night. Th story 11 
 be all round town to-morrow morning." 
 
 " Then I ll get you the money if that will " 
 
 " It won t. It isn t a matter of money. Th papers 
 in that package are th only thing that ll save me." 
 
 "What are they?" 
 
 "What are they?" For an instant Marcus was 
 disconcerted, then a sneer exposed his teeth. " Do 
 you really want to know?" he asked. 
 
 There was a diabolical suggestion in his voice and 
 expression which was the more terrifying because it 
 left so much to the imagination. Jack recoiled from 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 453 
 
 vague possibilities. lie felt that it could profit him 
 nothing to sound this new depravity. " No, no, I 
 don t want to know what they are," he exclaimed. 
 He did not see the exultation which leaped into the 
 face close to his. He forced himself to say, " But 
 I can t get them for you." 
 
 " You mean you won t. I oughtn t to have looked 
 for anything else. I never did anything for you 
 much." Marcus s cringing self accusation was so 
 despicable that Jack s contempt was not concealed, 
 and his father s temper suddenly got the upper hand. 
 " All right," he said. " Stick to your rules, damn 
 you! But, for all your nice airs, you ll have a jail 
 bird for a father. And your mother, she ll thank 
 you for helping me to that." He flung about as if 
 to go, though he had no intention of giving up so 
 soon. 
 
 Jack who stood with white, set face, staring at the 
 bars which crossed the window, drawing the slip of 
 paper between his fingers, seemed to hear a voice 
 in his ear, "Jack! Jack!" and knew it for his 
 mother s. He wavered, tried to remember his duty 
 to the Bank, and, in an instant, had surrendered to 
 the pleadings of his heart. He looked at his father. 
 "If I get this package for you, will you bring it 
 back here just as you got it? " he said in a whisper. 
 
 Yes, I will," his father answered quickly. 
 
 ".When?" 
 
 " In two days." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 454 
 
 "You ll give me your ? You will do that?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And you won t say a word to my mother or to 
 Mr. Devlin?" 
 
 " Am I a fool ? I don t tell your mother any 
 thing I can help," he added. " As for Jimmy, don t 
 I want to stand well with him ? " There was con 
 temptible truth brutal candor in his reply. 
 
 " Then I will get the package. Wait outside," 
 said Jack. His tones were colorless, weary; but, as 
 he turned to go, he finished with fierce intensity, " If 
 you don t bring back the papers safe if you ever 
 tell anyone I ll " His voice broke with the strain. 
 His father sneered at his retreating back. 
 
 Jack walked over the marble flagging, unseeing, 
 unhearing, conscious of a grip upon his heart and of 
 his purpose. He had the receipt crumpled in his 
 hand. He walked straight back, outside the railing 
 and to the little office near the Directors Room. 
 No one gave him more than casual attention. It was 
 known to them all that he stood close to the President 
 and did many errands for him of a personal nature. 
 
 And Jack did stand close to Jimmy so close that 
 he knew just where to put his fingers on the dupli 
 cate key which hung beside the desk before which 
 Jimmy had sat a few hours earlier. He took the 
 key, and went toward the big vault. 
 
 No one was within it and no one near. In the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 455 
 
 corner of the vault he found the tin box which he 
 sought. The incandescent light that swung from 
 the vault ceiling made the letters on the end of the 
 box stand out boldly. They were the initials of ! 
 He paused, and drew back his hand; then inserted 
 the key in the key-hole of the box with shaking 
 fingers. A step on the tiling outside made him 
 hurry. He picked out the package which he easily 
 identified, jammed in into his pocket, closed the box, 
 locked it and shoved it back into its place. 
 
 He glanced at the doorway of the vault. No one 
 was looking; the men whom he could see at their 
 desks had their heads bent over their books. He 
 walked out of the vault and to the door of the Bank 
 with such appearance of unconcern as he could 
 muster. 
 
 Just beyond the steps outside his father waited. 
 Jack shoved a large, brown envelope, tied with tape 
 and strapped with rubber bands into the latter s 
 hands. 
 
 Marcus satisfied himself by a glance into the en 
 velope that it held what he desired. Then he put it 
 into the breast-pocket of his coat, buttoned up the 
 coat, and fixed on Jack a pair of eyes that were 
 gleaming with something that made the younger 
 man shake as if palsied. 
 
 "It s all right," he said. "You ve done your 
 father a good turn." He wheeled forthwith and 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 456 
 
 walked down the steps and up the street. Jack, 
 staring at him, suddenly made a step, and opened 
 his lips. But, then, he halted, and the cry died in a 
 hoarse whisper, "Wait! 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 457 
 
 IT was the night of election day. The stars 
 from their arch of purple looked down upon a 
 city which was a blaze of lights, surging with 
 crowds, roaring with shouts and cheering. The polls 
 had closed; the counting of the ballots was proceed 
 ing. Official announcements of the results came in 
 slowly. The most sanguine on both sides conceded 
 that the outcome of the election was in doubt. 
 
 The thousands who swarmed on the streets had 
 voted and were eager to learn the result. Two great 
 streams of men poured up and down town on the 
 popular thoroughfare, moving because they had so 
 long stood still, calling to one another in sharp 
 voices strained with excitement, harkening to every 
 rumor that passed from lip to lip, clustering around 
 some curb-stone orator to listen to his harangue 
 and chaff or give him mock applause. Few cared 
 whence they went so long as they were on the streets 
 and at hand to see what was to be seen and hear what 
 was to be heard. 
 
 Most of the shop windows on the street level were 
 boarded up. From the upper story windows looked 
 down many women and men; others clung to cor- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 458 
 
 nices, and fought good-naturedly for places on the 
 steps. Electric lights everywhere cut sharp circles 
 of white on the pavements. The political clubs were 
 illuminated from top to bottom. On their fronts, 
 or suspended across the street, were huge transpar 
 encies and banners which, for weeks, had called on 
 all good citizens to rally round the men whose names 
 and portraits they bore in glaring colors. From the 
 tops of these buildings and from upper windows 
 burned red fire; now and then, a roman candle 
 spouted colored stars upon the crowds. 
 
 The Union Club, biggest of all these clubs, was 
 packed with men. It hummed like a great hive. 
 The silhouettes of men passed and repassed the 
 broad windows. Occasionally, a man in the windows 
 recognized an acquaintance among the passers-by, 
 and called to him to come up. A dozen accepted the 
 invitation, and there was a rush on the club door 
 keeper. A shout of " Fight ! " brought five hundred 
 men about the spot in ten seconds. When the struggle 
 was ended, and the invited had gained entrance or 
 was forced away, those on the outside pressed hard 
 for a while on the circle about the doorway, and 
 gaped and asked questions; then were caught in an 
 eddy of the human tide, and whirled away. 
 
 A shower of " dodgers " from some hand fluttered 
 down upon the heads of the crowd; and a hundred 
 necks were craned, and there was much pointing and 
 guessing and scrambles for the circulars. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 459 
 
 But it was down-town, around the newspaper 
 buildings, that the crowds were thickest and almost 
 immovable. For half a block on either side of these 
 buildings not a foot of open pavement was to be 
 seen from above. In front of the newspaper offices, 
 twenty feet in air, were stretched great sheets at 
 an angle. On these, from time to time was thrown, 
 in sprawling black letters, the message of a stereopti- 
 con within the building. Now it was : 
 
 " Six Divisions Twelfth Ward give : 
 Committee of Fifty, 758; Opposition, 
 562." 
 Or 
 
 " Sixth Ward likely to give : Committee 
 of Fifty majority more than 800 votes." 
 Or 
 
 " Walsh claims Ninth Ward by 400 votes." 
 
 With the appearance of each of these announce 
 ments a floor of black hats on the street level became 
 a sea of white faces, then hats were thrown up, a roar 
 came from the crowd. Men shook hands with one 
 another, and danced impromptu jigs, or whooped for 
 joy, or wagged their heads, and said, " It s a lie ! " 
 or " What rot ! " Some turned to strangers to say, 
 " Do you see that? What did I tell you? " " Can t 
 beat us ! " or " Wait ! Wait a while ! It s not over 
 yet! " " Don t get gay too early in the day! " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 460 
 
 Between such paroxysms of delight or disgust 
 they laughed shortly, or shouted jokes, or cheered 
 as some cartoon or the face of a popular man slid 
 into the disk of light on the suspended sheet. A 
 picture upside down was an exquisite bit of humor; 
 the edge of a view darkening the screen and with 
 drawn before it could be read drew out a long 
 "O-o-h!" 
 
 For more than an hour these crowds had stood 
 and waited and watched, and steadily grown larger, 
 jostled by newcomers squeezing their way to 
 better positions, surging forward and back in great 
 waves that no one could withstand and no one 
 seemed to start; swearing, now and then, but always 
 good naturedly. The fighting was left for other 
 places and other men. 
 
 A few of these other men, some of them with 
 printed muslin badges on their breasts, some with 
 brass-buttoned uniforms; but most of them without 
 either, still clustered about the polling places where, 
 since early morning, they had been at work. 
 
 Theirs had been no easy day. Prowling the 
 length of a block, scanning every approaching figure; 
 watching one another, helping a voter to a decision, 
 now by a quiet conversation at one side, now by 
 more material means of persuasion ; crowding away 
 some skulker by threats or fists or both; sending 
 carriages at a gallop to fetch tardy voters thus had 
 passed the time for them. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 461 
 
 In a few places where this was the day s routine 
 there had been more violent scenes. Once there was 
 an angry altercation, a rush of three men, a flash 
 of steel, a groan and a fall. Then a scuffle with a 
 blue uniform in the storm center; afterwards, a 
 furiously driven wagon, clanging its gong at ap 
 proach and departure. In another place a curse and 
 a blow had prefaced a pistol shot and the summons 
 of an ambulance, before which the crowd divided, 
 behind which it swung together and pressed about 
 the white-jacketed surgeon as he bent, and did his 
 part. 
 
 But these were but incidents the outcroppings of 
 passions which the warnings of ward leaders had 
 not been able to suppress wholly. 
 
 A struggle far more lasting and desperate in pur 
 pose went on within the polling places. There, about 
 long tables, sat the men who scanned the voting 
 checklists, and handed out the ballots, and watched 
 the little curtained boxes where other men signed 
 political death-warrants with a black cross. Here 
 were the resolves of weeks carried into effect; here 
 were friendships rewarded ; here old debts paid ; here 
 old scores paid; here contracts fulfilled. In these 
 hundreds of little boxes, scattered the length and 
 breadth of the city beat the political pulse of a million 
 people; and, with every throb almost, the heart of 
 some man was made to leap with joy or ache with 
 disappointment. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 462 
 
 When darkness had come down, the polling places 
 held only those who were counting the ballots; and 
 no one could say which side had the better of it. At 
 ten o clock the result was as uncertain as when the 
 polls closed. 
 
 The voting had developed a rare feature. There 
 had been but two tickets in the field, and a few wards 
 were known to have gone one way or another by safe 
 margins. In three-fourths of the remaining wards 
 the fight had been waged with uncommon stubborn 
 ness. 
 
 The Campaign of the Committee of Fifty, curi 
 ously enough, had had its most conspicuous suc 
 cess in parts of the city which, it might have been 
 thought, would oppose all efforts at political reform. 
 On the other hand, several of the wards whose in 
 habitants were mostly of the refined class had re 
 fused to abandon the cause which Jimmy and the 
 minority party seemed to them to represent. 
 
 Such idiosyncracies are what make an election in 
 teresting to the betting man. In the present case, 
 they confounded the Committee of Fifty; strength 
 ened Walsh in his private opinion that the vitality 
 of reform would not long survive his prospective 
 antagonism; and made Jimmy s glistening eyes elo 
 quent, as he sat with Showell, and got the returns 
 by a system which outdid in despatch the normal 
 methods employed by the reformers. 
 
 It was Jimmy s hour of physical rest. For thirty- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 463 
 
 seven of the past forty-eight hours he had been on 
 his feet, or actively engaged in consultation and the 
 giving of orders. Just before the closing of the polls 
 he had begun a final round of the voting places 
 where it appeared that his presence and a judicious 
 word might urge obedient servants to extra en 
 deavor, stiffen the wavering, and warn those who 
 plotted treachery. For there are divers ways of im 
 proving on a system of arithmetic when it comes to 
 the reckoning of votes. All the judges of election, 
 inspectors, clerks and peace officers in the world may 
 not prevent the use of this improved arithmetic 
 under certain circumstances. Seals may be dupli 
 cated, ballot boxes may open to deft fingers, even 
 ballots may develop at will damning discrepancies 
 in the marking, or vanish in thin air, along with 
 
 their stubs, when the right parties are in charge 
 
 of the undertaking. Nor was Jimmy blind to the ad 
 vantages and disadvantages accruing from such 
 legerdemain. With him, an election was something 
 to be won. 
 
 So there were disputes and recounts and again 
 disputes behind many barred doors. Again and 
 again, to impatient inquiries, came the response, 
 " Not yet ready to report." 
 
 Where Jimmy sat men came and went without 
 pause. They were excited or affected with an in 
 difference that was transparent. They said a few 
 hasty words or showed sheets of paper. Sometimes 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 464 
 
 they gesticulated and made loud remarks, and swore. 
 Those around laughed at the jokes with little dry, 
 disjointed barks. Nerves were pulled tight. The 
 air seemed to crackle; suppressed voices smote 
 sharply on the ear. Men puffed on cigars long since 
 extinguished. They slapped one another on the 
 shoulder, and put aimless questions which no one 
 answered. 
 
 Only Jimmy sat back in his chair, one short leg 
 hooked over the other, his fingers rolling a pencil, 
 his face white, but unmoved. He was not smiling, 
 but his eyes were feverishly bright. They stabbed 
 each new-comer s face, and often extracted his mes 
 sage before he could speak it. 
 
 Then entered Mat Casey, his face glowing, stut 
 tering in his haste and joy. 
 
 "Tis ours! T s th iliction we ve we ve 
 won!" he cried. " Oi ve come frum th Tinth; 
 Kelly says t s safe! An th Twilfth s ours, too! 
 An th Sixth, an Four Four-teenth, as will." 
 
 Jimmy s leg came down, and he leaned forward. 
 It seemed as if a burst of sunlight radiated from his 
 face. Casey stumbled on. 
 
 T s al almost certain av t Oi am. Th Thir- 
 rurd Ward s comin nt loine; an th Fifth an th 
 Twintysic sicond s loikely! Th Black Um 
 brellas s agatherin ! They s goin t par parade ! 
 They won t wait ! T s" 
 
 Jimmy s momentary exultation had vanished. His 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 465 
 
 eyes were searching, demanding. " And th Nine 
 teenth? th Twenty-third? Eleventh? Thirteenth? 
 Second? First? " he rattled off. 
 
 Casey checked the Wards named on his fingers. 
 " Nobody knows bout them yit," he said reluct 
 antly. " They s sthill at th countin ." 
 "And th Seventh and th Eighth?" 
 Casey shook his head. " No change yit ! " 
 Jimmy straightened up. His voice was sharp. 
 " It s too early, then. We must hear first from th 
 Nineteenth and th Eleventh, anyhow. Find out 
 about th Nineteenth! Tell Morley, as you go up, 
 that I ll be with him in less than half an hour. Be 
 quick ! " 
 
 Casey, with the last word, was at the door. 
 Jimmy already was reading a message just brought 
 in. His brows were wrinkled and the pencil tightly 
 gripped. For fifteen minutes messages poured in on 
 him faster than ever, by word of mouth, writing and 
 telephone. With each one his face grew more stern. 
 The last one he threw on the table, and sat a mo 
 ment, silent and motionless. Then he turned on 
 Showell. 
 
 Th Eleventh and Thirteenth Wards are going 
 against us," he said. " Th Seventh looks as if it 
 would go th same way. I must see Morley at 
 once. Look out for things here ! You know where 
 I ll be for twenty minutes. Call me up quick, if 
 you need me." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 466 
 
 The door opened and shut; he was gone. A cab 
 was at the door. He spoke to the driver, leaped into 
 the vehicle, and was rattling along to the headquar 
 ters of Morley, the minority leader. 
 
 He came out of the latter place, half an hour later, 
 and halted on the door-step. Over the roof of a 
 building nearby soared a fiery trail which curved, 
 stopped and dwindled to a point, then burst into a 
 shower of green and blue and red and yellow comets 
 which spread and fell into the darkness. A great 
 yell was borne faintly to his ears from where a pale 
 light was reflected on the leaves from a multitude 
 of arc lamps. 
 
 Jimmy watched the falling stars until they had 
 disappeared. As the echo of the shouting died away 
 and swelled again he took off his hat, and passed 
 his hand across his forehead. He buttoned up his 
 overcoat with fingers that fumbled. His face was 
 grim grimmer for the wraith of a smile which flick 
 ered and was gone. 
 
 Then he drew a deep breath, and walked away. 
 At the first corner he turned into a street that was 
 empty. His hands were thrust into his pockets, his 
 head a little bent. So he walked, almost unconscious 
 of the direction he took, until half a dozen blocks 
 had been covered. 
 
 At this corner he looked up, struck by some fa 
 miliar landmark; and, half a block away, his glance 
 fastened on one of a row of two-story, brick fronts. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 467 
 
 It seemed to him as if there was a brass plate, shin 
 ing on the window sill there. Perhaps, it was to 
 make sure of this that he continued to gaze at the 
 house. At least, the grimness melted from his coun 
 tenance and a soft light suffused it. When he swung 
 about and walked on it was almost as if he did it 
 against his will. 
 
 Two blocks along he cut into a tiny street, and 
 saw a man approaching him. It was Marcus Doran, 
 and the first look showed Jimmy that the other was 
 drunks He hesitated, then started on, skirting the 
 curb line, to give Marcus a wide berth. 
 
 But Marcus, when close to him, stepped sideways, 
 and blocked the way. " I know where you ve been," 
 he said. You ve been to see her ! She and 
 you" 
 
 He did not complete the sentence. Jimmy gave 
 him a quick push. " If you take her name in your 
 dirty mouth, I ll knock your teeth down your 
 throat!" he exclaimed. His eyes were aflame, his 
 jaw set; he threw back his arm to strike. 
 
 Marcus, in a drunken fury, tried to reach him; 
 but his foot caught on a carriage block, and he 
 stumbled and fell on the pavement, cursing. 
 
 Jimmy looked down on the sodden figure, then 
 spat on the ground in disgust. " I ll give him six 
 months more at this rate," he said. 
 
 Ten minutes later Jimmy halted a man who was 
 hurrying by him. The sound of a band playing a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 468 
 
 march and of cheering came from a distance. 
 " Who s that parading? " he demanded. 
 
 " Th White Umbrellas ! " was the answer. 
 " They re bound down town. The Black Um 
 brellas are paradin , too. There ll be some fun when 
 they meet." The man flung the last words over his 
 shoulder as he ran on. 
 
 Jimmy instantly started in the same direction and 
 tumbled into the first carriage he came upon. 
 " Down town ! As fast as you can go ! " he cried. 
 
 "The White Umbrellas" were indeed "out." 
 Whatever Mat Casey might have thought to the con 
 trary, to them the election was as good as won for 
 Walsh. Even while Jimmy was talking to Morley 
 they had begun to march. 
 
 Four hundred strong they started from their club 
 house, and, with recruits from allied organizations, 
 had seven hundred men in line when they reached the 
 lower part of the city. They were led by a brass 
 band, and carried torches a heavy stick, surmounted 
 by a swinging can of oil which made a pillar of 
 smoky fire to mark their march and a handy weapon 
 with which to enforce their possession of the high 
 way. With illuminated signs and banners they 
 marched through two of the principal streets, accom 
 panied by a cheering, hooting crowd of boys and 
 men. And no one disputed their passage. 
 
 But some of them were drunk with more than en 
 thusiasm and some of them were anxious to do more 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 469 
 
 than arouse sympathy for their cause and celebrate 
 their alleged triumph. There was fighting blood in 
 plenty under those white umbrellas. The men ached 
 for a chance to work off superfluous energy. So it 
 happened that when they reached the broad street 
 down-town which separated Jimmy s stronghold 
 from the Twelfth Ward, where Brady still asserted 
 himself after a fashion, there was trouble. 
 
 Long before, word had reached them that " The 
 Black Umbrellas" were also "out;" and were to 
 march up-town in force, crying aloud the victory 
 which they claimed, sweeping the streets from curb 
 to curb with their rejoicing ranks. Burning with de 
 sire to meet and squelch the counter demonstration, 
 " The White Umbrellas," at the double-quick, crossed 
 town, and made for the street up which their rivals 
 were coming. 
 
 Thus it happened that, at the moment Walsh s fol 
 lowing swung by tens around the corner of this 
 street, Jimmy s men, two blocks further down, were 
 approaching, five hundred of them, carrying lighted 
 torches, transparencies ablaze, fireworks shooting 
 stars into house fronts a roof of black umbrellas 
 covering them all. A band was in the van; a tail 
 ing of hangers-on yelled and helped to make the 
 thing a " go." 
 
 An old Water Works employe, a veteran of a hun 
 dred rough-and-tumble fights, led the column. When 
 he saw the lights of "The White Umbrellas" a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 470 
 
 gleam of savage delight wrinkled his countenance. 
 Then he checked his desires, remembering Jimmy s 
 orders, cut down his marching front to five men, and 
 took one side of the street. If the other crowd at 
 tended strictly to its own business, he told himself, 
 there would be no fight. In his heart he knew that 
 this was like drawing a chalk line between two bull 
 dogs. Behind him every man grasped his stick 
 tighter. A chorus of derisive cries went up from 
 both sides. 
 
 It was the call to battle. Brady, in a carriage, 
 surrounded by a hundred of his faithful bullies, fol 
 lowed the last line of " The White Umbrellas " on 
 this night, and, as soon as he saw the illumination 
 ahead, he was out of the carriage, and to the front, 
 ready to uphold the honor of his procession. It 
 was an ill-aimed Roman candle which gave him the 
 chance he hunted for. 
 
 A dozen files of the rival paraders had passed each 
 other, and the worst had been cat-calls, rough jokes 
 and a few curses. Then, came that ball of red fire 
 sputtering into a line of white umbrellas, and the 
 hour of action was arrived. 
 
 The men hit yelled, and the nearest of them struck 
 out with their torches. Immediately there was a rush 
 from all sides. White and black umbrellas were furled 
 or thrown down. With torches clubbed the men fell 
 on one another. Brady and his bodyguard were at 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 471 
 
 the fore at once, and bore back " The Black Umbrel 
 las " to the pavement. 
 
 Then came the employes of the Water Works to 
 the rescue. Fifty hard-handed, hard-headed fellows, 
 whose joy in fighting was greater than all else, threw 
 themselves with savage lust upon the lunging, sway 
 ing mob of men, split it up, and drove the fragments 
 to the street. 
 
 Brady s voice rose, hoarse and maddened, above 
 all others, " Give em hell, boys ! Smash em ! Smash 
 em!" 
 
 And back came the challenge of the old Water 
 Works captain, " Pound th life out uv em ! Give 
 em one fur Jimmy! Show em how we do with 
 traitors! Whoop her up! Whoop her up! " 
 
 Like a pack on the heels of their leader, the Water 
 Works men plunged into the unbroken ranks of 
 "The White Umbrellas" just behind. Brady s 
 forces rallied and turned on the foe. From all sides, 
 the opposing forces closed in. A yelling, cursing, 
 fighting throng of a thousand men surged back and 
 forth. Transparencies were pulled down and tram 
 pled upon, hats smashed, coats ripped from backs. 
 Here and there, a burning stream of oil marked the 
 spot where a torch had burst with a blow and taken 
 fire. 
 
 The crowd of onlookers, who had been shouting 
 with the loudest, were borne back against the build- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 472 
 
 ings on either side, or sent flying- up and down the 
 street. The half dozen policemen who ran to the 
 spot, were swallowed up by the maw of the mob, then 
 spewed out, clubs gone, uniforms in ribbons. 
 
 Here a man cried out for mercy; on the fringes of 
 the press crippled figures came into view, crawling 
 on hands and knees into the open air. But mostly 
 they fought and cursed and fought again. All 
 thought of political differences was out of mind. 
 It was a maddened desire to pay back a blow given 
 that drove men into the thick of the mob ; once there, 
 they strove to save themselves and make their mark 
 on the nearest enemy. Bloody faces were often the 
 target for friend as well as foe. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Jimmy leaped from 
 his carriage at the nearest corner, and came upon the 
 outskirts of the crowd ringed about the fighters. 
 Under the electric lamps the spectacle was clear to the 
 vision. He jumped on a carriage block and ran his 
 eyes over the mob. He halted, uncertain how to 
 begin the task before him. Stopped the fight should 
 be at once, he was determined. But how? He 
 knew, once he threw himself into it, he would be but 
 one of them a straw in a whirlpool. To shout to 
 them was to waste his breath. The roar of their yells 
 and the struggle deadened every ear. 
 
 Then, one of his own men was flung bodily out of 
 the press at his feet, and he had his cue. He sprang 
 upon the man, and grasped his arm. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 473 
 
 " No more of this ! " he cried. " It s got to stop, 
 right here! Pass th word round! I want every 
 man of mine in line about me there ! " He 
 pointed down the street. 
 
 The man he spoke to scrambled to his feet, and 
 stood, dazed, irresolute. Then he saw it was Jimmy. 
 His leader s flashing eyes decided him. He ran to 
 do as he was bid. Jimmy already had sprung to 
 another of his men, and was giving him his orders. 
 And then another was brought to a sharp halt and 
 sent into the crowd with his word, and another. 
 These men fought to make themselves understood; 
 again and again, the word they bore was heard but 
 to be driven from mind by a crashing blow. But 
 steadily they kept at it; and the ranks of the non- 
 combatants grew. The news passed swiftly through 
 the crowd now, " Th Boss s here ! We ve got t 
 stop ! " 
 
 Soon, Jimmy stood the center of a hundred pant 
 ing, bruised and bloody men, who glared at the 
 fighters, and made feints to plunge into the mob 
 once more. Two hundred feet away the struggle still 
 went on, but dwindled fast. The word had gone 
 round; Jimmy s men were flocking to him from 
 every side. In five minutes more Brady s bullies 
 were hunting for adversaries. Jimmy stood in front 
 of his people, and made short work of every attempt 
 to renew the fight. 
 
 But a score or more of infuriated fellows pounded 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 474 
 
 one another. In one spot four men fought, and 
 above their heads rose and fell the handle of a torch. 
 For an instant the four men were separated a little, 
 so that the swinging club had play. In that instant 
 it drove down with terrific force on an uncovered 
 head. The man it struck threw up his arms, and 
 fell at full length. 
 
 Then came the cry, "Police! Th cops! Th 
 cops ! " A charging squad of blue coats bore down 
 upon the scattering fighters, and sent them flying. 
 
 The two lines of quondam combatants fell back, 
 and uncovered a wide stretch of pavement. Men, 
 here and there, sat on carriage blocks or curbstones, 
 and held their heads and groaned. A dozen lay pros 
 trate and were ministered to by companions, or 
 hauled to their feet and dragged away. 
 
 But from the little knot of men who had clustered 
 about the spot where that torch had been swung so 
 savagely there came a cry. It was a cry for help, in 
 a strong voice. Jimmy heard it, and his heart sank. 
 He thought he had come in time to save all but a 
 few broken heads and bruises. That cry told him 
 of his mistake. For it meant that some one had 
 come upon Death. 
 
 With a word to his men to stay where they were, 
 he ran to the spot from which the cry came, and 
 thrust himself through the thickening circle. On 
 the asphalt lay a man, cheek pressed against the pav 
 ing, his hat beaten down over his head, a trickle 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 475 
 
 of blood at the corner of his mouth, one arm out- 
 thrown, the other under him, clutching at his shirt. 
 Above his left ear showed the edge of a deep cut. 
 
 It was dark here; most of the torches had been 
 lost; the shoulders of those in the circle, bending 
 over, shrouded the outstretched figure. 
 
 Jimmy s face was white as he stooped. He undid 
 the man s coat ; a packet slipped from the coat pocket 
 under his hand. He picked it up, and put aside the 
 vest, and laid his ear against the breast. He re 
 mained bent, listening, until he was sure that there 
 was no heart beat. Then, he raised his head. 
 
 " Who is it? Don t you know? " he asked. 
 
 No one answered. He called for a torch. The 
 police were driving back the crowd. A torch was 
 passed over the circle. Jimmy turned the body on its 
 back. The dead man s face came over reluctantly 
 into the glare of the torch. 
 
 It was the face of Marcus Doran. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 476 
 
 WAGONS began to rattle over the streets. 
 Their lights bored through a heavy mist 
 like points of glowing metal. The fig 
 ures of men early astir, loomed gigantic and indefi 
 nite. A pale nimbus encircled the electric lamps. 
 Now and then, the raucous voice of some derelict 
 of the streets was raised in an attempt at song, and 
 jarred into abrupt silence by a lurching mis-step. 
 The pavements, littered with torn paper and cigar 
 stumps and the countless odds and ends which mark 
 the trail of a great crowd, were greasy and glisten 
 ing. The damp cold obscured store windows behind 
 which burned dully the night lights. It spangled the 
 clothing of those who pushed through it and searched 
 their bodies. 
 
 One of these wayfarers was Jimmy. Alone he 
 walked slowly toward his rooms, his face almost 
 hidden by upturned coat collar and hat brim. His 
 stocky figure seemed to slouch, his step had none of 
 its wonted spring. When he reached his door-step 
 he mounted it laggardly, and his hand groped with 
 the latch-key. With the door open he remained 
 facing the street. Habitually indifferent to the 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 477 
 
 weather, now, in a vague way, he felt that this gray 
 morning fitted his state of mind and body. 
 
 For, on this morning, Jimmy stood on his door-step 
 a defeated man. He had been repudiated by those 
 whom he had come to think of as his own stripped 
 of most of his power, a boss no longer a figure to 
 be pictured as the triumph or pity of his one-time 
 mercenaries might dictate. He was looking at a 
 city which, a few hours before, had declared its will 
 at the polls, and chosen to declare itself free of his 
 command. 
 
 It was not bitterness that filled him at this thought ; 
 nor yet was he numbed by the blow he had got. Long 
 ago he had taught himself the futility of passive re 
 sentment; his was not the temperament which is 
 palsied by misfortune. But a mastering sense of his 
 position besieged his resolution and made his heart 
 sore. It is hard to bring the cup to the lips, and have 
 it snatched away; it is harder still to drink of the 
 wine of success only to come upon the bottom of the 
 measure when its sweetness is beginning to realize 
 the anticipations of a thirst long endured for the 
 sake of this draught, and which nothing else may 
 satisfy. 
 
 Many recollections thronged upon Jimmy as he 
 stood on his door-step. He remembered the boast 
 he had made to Kate in long-gone years; he recalled 
 the events which had marked the steps of his march 
 toward that dominant place which, he had said, he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 478 
 
 would make his own. Now, these happenings mocked 
 him. They did not seem to have been the rewards of 
 toil and watchful care and skill; rather they were 
 the lures which had drawn him on to ruin. In the 
 glow of his enthusiasm at one time, they had cast ex 
 aggerated reflections upon the veil of the future 
 reflections which had appeared substantial then but 
 which now he saw, were but will-o -th -wisps that 
 danced ahead of him, enticing him to the fatal mis 
 step. 
 
 That mis-step he had made when he left the path 
 of straight-dealing with those who shared the way 
 with him. He had miscalculated. He had not 
 waited till he was strong enough to overthrow Walsh 
 and the rest in open fight, and so cleared the road to 
 fame for himself. He had tried to trip his enemies 
 and elude their vengeance. They had repaid him in 
 kind, and out-maneuvered him because they out 
 numbered him, and because he carried a burden, 
 bound to him by his heart-strings. Yes, if it had not 
 been for Marcus, he reflected, he might have kept his 
 feet, and, even when he stumbled, have recovered 
 himself, and won his way back to firm ground. But 
 now? The burden was removed from him; but 
 it was too late. His enemies would press him 
 down, and seek to make an end of him. 
 
 Perhaps, the situation did not express itself to 
 Jimmy in these terms, but they interpret his posi 
 tion adequately. When he stepped inside the house 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 479 
 
 and walked wearily upstairs, he was repeating to 
 himself, " The investigation of th Water Trust 
 comes next ! They ll never stop till they ve tried their 
 hands at showing me up." The embers of his reso 
 lution flared at this thought. " And, maybe, that s 
 where they ll fall down!" he added silently. Then 
 he threw off his overcoat, and something fell from 
 it to the floor. 
 
 He stooped, and picked it up. It was a long, 
 brown envelope, tied with tape. His brows were 
 drawn together in the effort to identify it. Sud 
 denly, he remembered that this was what had slipped 
 into his fingers when he bent over Marcus s body. 
 He turned it over, and saw, written across one end, 
 Kate s name and a date. 
 
 Instantly, he recognized the envelope and knew 
 where it had come from originally. But that only 
 furnished him a greater puzzle. 
 
 He remembered the day on which Kate had handed 
 it to him. " A paper of mine," she had said. " Won t 
 you put it where it ll be safe? " 
 
 He had pocketed the envelope with a " Certainly." 
 Even her low-spoken, " Once upon a time, I used 
 to read it over most every day," did not fix his at 
 tention. His mind was very busy at the time with 
 an important errand of his own. Kate s words he 
 had put into one of these mental pigeon-holes in 
 which he stored whatever he might wish to refer to 
 later. There, like the envelope which she gave to 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 480 
 
 him and which he promptly put into his private 
 box at the Bank, they had lain for years. He had 
 given her a receipt for the envelope, scrawled on a 
 slip of paper in his own handwriting and, after 
 wards, thought no more on the happening. 
 
 But, like the packet now in his hands, Kate s 
 words were distinct to him at this moment. He be 
 gan to wonder what they had signified. What, too, 
 was in this packet which which had been in the 
 vault at the Bank when last he saw it, and, yet, a 
 few hours ago, was in Marcus s pocket? How did 
 it leave the Bank? Why was Marcus carrying it 
 with him ? Did Kate know ? 
 
 He turned the envelope over again, and tried to 
 make a guess at what it held. Instinct, rather than 
 any process of reasoning, at last overcame his 
 scruples. With the feeling that what he did was for 
 her sake, he untied the envelope, raised the flap, and 
 slid out the enclosure. It was of parchment paper, 
 folded several times. It was legibly inscribed on the 
 back with names and a date and a statement. To 
 Jimmy it revealed everything. 
 
 So overwhelming, though so simple was this rev 
 elation that, for a minute, he remained staring at the 
 paper which shook in his hand, incredulous, almost 
 uncomprehending. As the full meaning of it dawned 
 on him, a great rush of joy flooded his heart. The 
 blood leaped to his cheeks, his haggard eyes glowed. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 481 
 
 He grasped the paper tightly with both hands, de 
 vouring it with his gaze. 
 
 No other document could have held for him the 
 title to such happiness and relief. For here was the 
 warrant of Kate s immunity from the danger from 
 which he had long sought to shield her by the sacri 
 fice of himself and his hard-earned power! Here 
 was an affidavit to the lying craft with which Marcus 
 Doran had tricked him and wrung from him bribes 
 at will! Here was testimony to the slenderness of 
 the thread which suspended over Marcus s head a 
 weapon that would have made him impotent, had 
 Jimmy known of its existence ! 
 
 It was Kate s marriage certificate, filled in and 
 endorsed by the " runaway marriage minister," Old 
 Mayers, now long since dead. 
 
 The minutes sped swiftly by while Jimmy held 
 that precious paper, and his heart throbbed its thanks 
 giving. There was no place in his mind for the 
 questions which the paper raised and left unan 
 swered; even the sting of his own defeat was un- 
 felt just then. When he slipped the certificate into 
 its envelope and tied the strings about it and put it 
 away, he was thinking only of Kate. And, again 
 and again, she seemed to lay a soothing hand on his 
 brow as he tossed on his bed and struggled with the 
 tormenting recollections of his overthrow, until ex 
 haustion drew him into the chambers of sleep. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 482 
 
 The sun had but burned the mist aWa~y when he 
 was dressed and on the street. He knew that the 
 " waiting-room " down-town must already be packed 
 with men. As he faced the situation now, gladdened 
 by something in the breast-pocket of his coat, and 
 with body invigorated by rest, he saw his way more 
 clearly. 
 
 First of all, friends and foes alike should see him 
 erect and undismayed. His enemies should have no 
 reason to doubt his determination to keep up the 
 struggle; his friends should be convinced that 
 whatever his course, his heart was strong, his brain 
 as clear and active as ever. Already he had made his 
 plans and shaken from him fruitless questions and 
 regrets. Before dawn he had fought it all out with 
 himself. There was to be no wavering. It was to 
 be work, work, with all of his old-time vigor and 
 skill. 
 
 So, with quick step and a face on which was reso 
 lution and cheerfulness, he left his home, and turned 
 toward Kate s house. First of all he must see her. 
 Though she could have felt little of real sorrow be 
 cause of Marcus s death, there might be much which 
 he alone could do for her at this time. He had been 
 the one to tell her of Marcus s death, and give the 
 orders which were needed. Jack had stood by her, 
 his arm around her shoulders, and held her closely 
 to him. Jimmy had left them thus. The lingering 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 483 
 
 pressure of Kate s hand had been the messenger of 
 her gratitude and trust. 
 
 This morning she saw him again; and the few 
 minutes that he remained with her were of the 
 hardest in his experience. Marcus seemed to stand 
 between them in death, as he had never been able to 
 do in life. The indescribable stillness of the house 
 forbade words. Jimmy thought that Kate s grave 
 eyes rested on him with gentle reproach. His aver 
 sion to hypocrisy made him uneasy with himself; 
 for his silence seemed to imply that he mourned for 
 Marcus. He could not force himself to speak a 
 sympathy which he did not feel ; and to say anything 
 else, he understood would be untimely. So, with his 
 heart crying for voice, he spoke a few, blundering 
 words, pressed Kate s hand, and told her he would 
 come again. 
 
 As he closed the street door behind him, the long 
 crape at the bell-pull was blown across his breast. He 
 started back, and loosed himself from its clasp vio 
 lently. A healthy repugnance to its touch was tinged 
 with a subtler feeling partly awe, partly a fancy 
 that Marcus laid a hand on him. 
 
 But clear sunshine and crisp air soon dissipated his 
 lurking depression, and he plunged into the work 
 before him with a heartiness that surprised the most 
 devoted of his followers. 
 
 " Fhlat on their backs these r formers 11 be b fore 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 484 
 
 they know th offices they s runnin fur ! " was Mat 
 Casey s enthusiastic aside to another Ward-man that 
 afternoon. " A board wid buttons an lacers an 
 shuspinders 11 be Walsh s job this toime three 
 years ! " he added. " An t s mesilf 11 contribute a 
 little dog t lade him, whin that toime comes ; fur t s 
 sorry Oi do fale fur th bloind ! " 
 
 Jimmy, overhearing a part of this prophecy, 
 smiled, but made no comment. 
 
 He was not smiling, three mornings later, how 
 ever, when he called Jack into his office. Outwardly 
 he was calm ; inwardly he wrestled with an ugly con 
 viction. He told Jack to close the door, and sit down. 
 Then he asked, " Did you ever see that before? " 
 
 Jack s look dropped and his cheeks burned, then 
 paled, at sight of the long, brown envelope. He did 
 not reply at once. He was arguing with himself. 
 And Jimmy knew that he was, arrd did not help him 
 out. But, when he said, " Yes," in a low voice, 
 Jimmy replied, " I m glad you said that. I was al 
 most certain that you had seen it. You took it from 
 my box in th vault; didn t you? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did you know what it was ? " 
 
 " No ! " he answered quickly. He repeated earn 
 estly; " No, I didn t know what it was." 
 
 " Why did you give it to him ? " 
 
 " He my father ? He said he had to have the 
 papers in it, for some legal business." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 485 
 
 " Th papers didn t belong to him." 
 
 " He had the receipt for the package " Jack 
 halted conscious of the futility of the plea. 
 
 " You had no right to give up th package, receipt 
 or not, except to th depositor," replied Jimmy. 
 " But let that go for th present. Where is th re 
 ceipt? I ve looked over th files, and I can t find it. 
 Besides, this envelope was taken from my private 
 box, and, I don t think anyone but you know where 
 I keep th duplicate key to it. That s why I sent for 
 you. Where is th receipt? " 
 
 Jack s hands were clenched. He said almost defi 
 antly; "Here it is." 
 
 Jimmy took the slip of paper, gave it a glance and 
 winced. " Why didn t you file this? " he asked. 
 
 " Because because " His voice died away 
 
 in a whisper. 
 
 Jimmy could not see his face, and repeated his 
 question. Still he got no reply. Then -he realized 
 that the other was afraid of the truth, and his mind 
 busied itself with furnishing a reason for this fear. 
 Did Jack know what was in the envelope? Had 
 he connived at the plot? He drove the thought 
 from him. But, for a while, he could hit upon no 
 clue ; and Jack did not assist him. All at once he re 
 membered that Jack had said he did not know what 
 was in the envelope. " Did not, but perhaps, was 
 told by his father afterward," his mind suggested. 
 
 In a flash, he reproduced the situation as supplied 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 4 8l> 
 
 by his knowledge of Marcus and his plot. Jack 
 had been persuaded into securing the envelope for his 
 father and, then, had been told enough by the latter 
 to throw him into a panic. Horrified by his father s 
 veiled threats, he had not known which way to turn. 
 So he had kept the secret. Now, he was fearful lest 
 it should be wrested from him, and come to his 
 mother s ears. 
 
 Broken bank regulations and Jack s weakness were 
 forgotten as Jimmy pictured the young fellow s ter 
 ror, and realized that it was love for his mother which 
 had swayed him. His heart went out to the figure 
 opposite to him. If he had reflected further it would 
 have been to wonder at himself for harboring those 
 ugly suspicions. Instead, he extended both hands, 
 and spoke right out. 
 
 " Jack," he said in a low voice ; " Jack, come 
 here ! " 
 
 Jack got up, and came over. He was astounded 
 by this changed front. But his relief was none the 
 less intense. He saw that something which he did not 
 understand had saved him, and shame smote him as 
 Jimmy s fingers gripped his, and Jimmy spoke from 
 his heart, " You don t need to tell me anything. I m 
 satisfied more than satisfied. You re your mother s 
 own son. . . . Think of her always; you can t 
 better that." 
 
 Jack felt his hand released, and stood, for a mo 
 ment unable to shake off his bewilderment 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 487 
 
 Nor did his silence seem strange to Jimmy, who 
 thought he knew what held him speechless. " That s 
 all right, my boy," he went on. " I ll keep th receipt, 
 and put it back in th envelope where it belongs. 
 No one else 11 know about it. I ll let em think I 
 made a mistake. You d better go now. They ll 
 begin to wonder outside what s going on in here." 
 
 Jack went slowly out of the office. He was still in 
 a daze. 
 
 But, if he had but known it, nothing that he could 
 have done or said would have deepened the im 
 pression of his innocence and nobility as did his un 
 responsive attitude. For Jimmy understood that 
 there were feelings too sacred to be uncovered. He 
 had hugged one such feeling to his own breast. He 
 knew, too, that there were purposes which lie close 
 to the heart, and, sometimes, never are revealed, 
 though they be the springs of the most momentous 
 actions. Since he first identified his ambitions, he 
 had kept watch and ward over such purposes most 
 often, to have them declare themselves, when the 
 time was ripe, in the successes of his political career ; 
 occasionally, to have them come to naught, and be 
 abandoned. Only once had he allowed such a secret 
 to be stolen from him, and that had been calamitous. 
 
 It was to lessen the scope of this calamity and to 
 carry himself through its consequences with such of 
 the honors of war as he might compel that Jimmy 
 bent his energies during the month that followed 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 488 
 
 his sweeping defeat at the polls. His term as a 
 Water Works Trustee did not expire for a year; he 
 retained a grip on City Councils through the mem 
 bers of that body who had yet a year to serve. These 
 agencies, he was determined should confront and 
 confound his enemies in their next move the in 
 vestigation of the W T ater Trust. 
 
 Therefore, after Marcus had been quietly buried, 
 and he had assured himself that Kate was provided 
 for, he was again to be found daily in " Back." To 
 all who came there he was still " Th Boss." 
 
 Some of them, like Casey, were staunchly true to 
 him, and believed that he would regain all of his old 
 power. There were others who feigned a like faith 
 because it suited their immediate plans, or because 
 they were afraid to offend just yet. Jimmy mis 
 understood none of these persons ; neither did he tax 
 them with infidelity. He handled them fearlessly, 
 but with extreme care. His trustfulness was one of 
 his beautiful qualities. But, sometimes, when one of 
 the sycophants had left him and he was alone, his 
 lips would be pressed upon each other, and he would 
 sit motionless for a time, with wishful eyes fixed 
 upon something that must have been far beyond the 
 grimy walls, ten feet away. 
 
 For all of these periods of abstraction, however, he 
 was active and resourceful when others were by ; and, 
 when the demand came for an investigation of the 
 Water Works which he still dominated, it was met 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 489 
 
 with a resistance so stubborn and skillful as would 
 have discouraged any attack less general and resolved 
 than that actuated by insulted public sentiment. As 
 it was, the reformers placarded the city with the de 
 mand, " Down with Devlin and the Water Trust ! " 
 Three-fourths of the newspapers repeated this in their 
 headlines daily; it was in the mouth of every orator 
 who spoke for reform. To those few who knew 
 Jimmy in his private character and had miserably 
 soft hearts it sounded like the baying of hounds on 
 the trail. They cursed the men who uttered it. 
 
 But Jimmy didn t. His smile was a little bitter, 
 his words quiet ; his acts defensive. He matched peti 
 tions for an investigation of the Trust by City Coun 
 cils with mass meetings which passed resolutions of 
 confidence in his honesty and called attention to the 
 fact that never had the water supply been so plenti 
 ful and pure and the politeness of the Trust s em 
 ployes so marked as since J. Devlin became a trustee. 
 In truth, it had been Jimmy s endeavor from the first 
 to effect this. It was a bit of advice he was fond of 
 giving those in his confidence, " Throw a bone to 
 save th meat." 
 
 The time came, however, when the resolutions in 
 troduced into City Councils could no longer be 
 " tabled " and " referred." Then Jimmy came out in 
 a statement to the public. 
 
 " The Water Trustees," he said ; " had nothing to 
 be ashamed of. Their work refuted the charges. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 490 
 
 However, it was time these charges were silenced. 
 Therefore, they appealed to City Councils to make 
 an investigation of the Water Works and its man 
 agement." 
 
 " And let the investigation be a thorough one," he 
 was quoted as adding in the name of his fellow 
 trustees. " The Trust challenges its defamers. It 
 has nothing to conceal." 
 
 City Councils responded at once. The investiga 
 tion was entrusted to a committee. All through that 
 Spring this committee continued its investigations. 
 During the Summer it adjourned its labors. In the 
 early part of the following winter the end came 
 suddenly. 
 
 One day in November Peter McCall of the Fourth 
 Ward, who was Chairman of the Investigating Com 
 mittee, walked into Jimmy s office. His face was 
 glowing. He held out several folded sheets of 
 paper. " Th findin s of tlr Committee;" he said 
 laconically, and sat down. 
 
 Jimmy spread out the papers, and read them 
 through slowly. Then he thrust out a hand to 
 McCall ; and that portly, bewhiskered gentleman took 
 it, and was satisfied. " Carried by one vote ! " he 
 explained. 
 
 "Craig s?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, he was worth all he got. He said that 
 he held his opinions high and he did." 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 491 
 
 When McCall had gone; Jimmy wrote a dozen 
 words on a sheet of paper, put it into an envelope, 
 addressed it, and called a messenger boy. Twenty 
 minutes later, Kate got the note, and read: 
 
 " Councils Committee finds nothing wrong with 
 the Water Trust or J. DEVLIN/ 
 
 That afternoon all the city heard this news, and, 
 for three clays talked about little else. Then, it got 
 another piece of news which astounded it. It took 
 the form of a statement in the newspapers, over 
 Jimmy s signature. 
 
 Jimmy had resigned from the Water Trust, and 
 retired from politics. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 492 
 
 FEW of Jimmy s friends ever understood clearly 
 his sudden retirement from politics. His 
 statement in the newspapers was brief and 
 unsatisfactory. It supplied only the inexplicable 
 reason that interests " outside of politics " demanded 
 all of his attention. These interests, it was agreed, 
 were largely represented by the Union Bank. But, 
 as he had been President of that institution for 
 many years, the explanation seemed scarcely ade 
 quate. 
 
 Jimmy himself was non-committal. He said that 
 he had said all that he had to say in his public state 
 ment. There the personal inquiry ended. But some 
 of those who knew him little whispered, " Th Old 
 Man s breaking down, and knows it." A few credited 
 him with the unworthy motive of saving his skin 
 at the expense of others. 
 
 They all knew that the big battle with the reform 
 element was not ended; that the vindication of the 
 Water Trust had been a case of " whitewashing " 
 which would not satisfy its opponents. When, two 
 years later, the Legislature, having been appealed to, 
 passed a special act giving the city a new charter by 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 493 
 
 which the Water Trust was abolished, there were a 
 good many who once had sworn by Jimmy, to say, 
 " I told you so ! Jimmy knew when to get out. He 
 wasn t worryin about th rest of us." 
 
 But there were those who never believed this or 
 other calumnies. They stoutly defended Jimmy, and 
 asserted that he had always dealt fairly by those who 
 dealt fairly by him. Yet, even they had to confess 
 that he furnished them with a puzzle. Retirement 
 under fire had not been his habit ; retreat was a note 
 which, as a politician, he had seldom sounded. It 
 was his opinion, " No fight s over till th enemy s 
 left th field." 
 
 What Jimmy s own ideas were he never told to 
 any one in so many words. Yet, there were things 
 he said and did which might have thrown light on 
 the question, if interpreted by one who knew him 
 very well. Perhaps, Kate came near to guessing the 
 whole truth. 
 
 For two days after he had announced his retire 
 ment from politics he did not get the chance to see 
 her. Almost every minute of this time was occupied 
 in making his retirement a fact. For several weeks 
 he had been quietly preparing for the move, but, as 
 he kept his intentions a secret until the last moment 
 there remained a great many things to be attended to, 
 a great many men to see, and a great many ques 
 tions to answer. " I want to leave a clean board/* 
 he said. And he did all in his power to effect this. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 494 
 
 Then, one evening, he saw far enough ahead to turn 
 aside, and he went to Kate. 
 
 He had sent word that he was coming, which was 
 something he had never done before; and she felt 
 that it was to be a sort of state visit. She told him 
 so when he came in. 
 
 He laughed. " Is Jack in ? " he asked. 
 
 She said no; and he seemed to be immensely re 
 lieved. " Is it a secret from Jack?" she inquired, 
 watching him closely. 
 
 "What?" he flashed back. 
 
 " Your oh, why you left politics ? " 
 
 " No, of course not at least not to you. Only, 
 I ve been asked so many times why I ve done what 
 I ve done, and what I m goin to do now, and all 
 that sort of thing, that I m beginning to want to 
 hide somewhere." 
 
 " So you came here ? " said Kate, passing over the 
 inconsequence of his reply. 
 
 " Isn t it a pretty good sort of a place to come to ? " 
 he returned. 
 
 " That depends." 
 
 "On what?" 
 
 " On yourself on me and on your business." 
 
 " If it depends on me, I ll show you what I think 
 of it. If it depends on you, I know, I won t com 
 plain." 
 
 " Why, Jimmy ! You re actually paying compli 
 ments ! What has come over you ? " she cried. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 495 
 
 " Nothing. Do you think I m too old to pay a 
 compliment? " 
 
 " Not too old ; but too wise. And now you ve for 
 gotten your business. A good deal depends on that." 
 
 " How how much ? " He laughed, but seemed 
 quite concerned to know. 
 
 " Why, everything. Is this a political visit? " 
 
 "Not much!" He shook his head earnestly. 
 "Politics!" he ejaculated scornfully. 
 
 " Oh, politics! " she exclaimed, mocking him. 
 Then, suddenly, " Why did you leave politics ? I 
 want a truthful answer ! " 
 
 " Don t know myself exactly," he answered. " I 
 haven t had time to think it over yet." 
 
 "The truth!" demanded Kate. "You never 
 could deceive me, remember ! " 
 
 " Th truth? Don t you know better than to seek 
 it in a politician? " 
 
 " You re a politician no longer." 
 
 " But I can t get out of bad habits." 
 
 " Jimmy s habits weren t so bad at least, not all 
 of them." 
 
 " Weren t they ? I m glad to hear some one say 
 that." 
 
 " But he had one very bad one ; and that was try 
 ing to play the same tricks on me that he did on his 
 old politicians. Now, you sent word to me that you 
 were coming here this evening. What was that, 
 for?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 496 
 
 "For?" he coughed, uncrossed his legs, then 
 crossed them again. " To let you know I was com 
 ing," he finished. 
 
 She kept her eyes on his face. " I m waiting? " 
 she said. 
 
 " You don t have to wait," he replied. " I m here." 
 
 " Go on," she prompted. 
 
 " Go on ? Why, I ve just come ! " he expostulated. 
 He gave her a piteous glance. But his attempt at 
 raillery was weak, and it broke down right there. 
 
 Kate was looking at him steadily; he gave up the 
 effort to divert her. " Hang it all ! " he said. " What 
 is it you want to know, anyway? " 
 
 " Why it was that you sent word that you were 
 coming here this evening?" she repeated calmly. 
 " You may n t remember, but you never did that 
 before. Now, why did you send word ? " 
 
 Jimmy sat up very straight, and drew in a long 
 breath. Then he said three words. " To see you! " 
 
 They were three commonplace words, and he had, 
 doubtless, said them to her several times before. But, 
 now, they exploded from his mouth as if they had 
 been held under high pressure. He seemed greatly 
 relieved at having got rid of them. 
 
 Their effect on Kate was more remarkable. In 
 an instant, her face which, a moment before, had been 
 determined and plain to be read, lost its resolution 
 and was all confusing signs. Her eyes suddenly 
 realized that they had been staring at Jimmy s in a 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 497 
 
 way that was altogether impolite, and her cheeks 
 blushed for shame of the thing, while her lips remem 
 bered their old droop, and, straightway, put a dimple 
 there against further lapses. 
 
 Jimmy was aware of these transformations; and, 
 indeed, how could he help it, watching her and know 
 ing that something was going to happen the instant 
 that he transmitted to her the tremendous secret 
 carried by those three words of his. But what he 
 saw, while it did not disappoint him, did not supply 
 him with the power of divination. So, being only a 
 clever man who had spent his life in studying men, 
 he wondered what he should deduce from these signs ; 
 he sat silent, and wished that his heart had stayed 
 where it belonged, and not stuck in his throat where 
 it kept him from speaking. 
 
 While he struggled with that obstinate organ, 
 Kate, who, in one second, knew just how she looked, 
 and what was the matter with him, and what she 
 ought to say first, looked up, and smiled at him. 
 
 "N &w, I understand," she said. " You wanted to 
 talk over something with me alone. And it s 
 important? " 
 
 Her smile had completed his rout, but her words 
 braced him up. Kate understood him so well. " Yes, 
 that s why I sent th message I was coming," he 
 managed to say. By heroic efforts he had got his 
 heart where it belonged, and, though it was still 
 jumping around, he was almost sure, now that Kate 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 498 
 
 had come to his rescue and they were fairly started, 
 that he could keep it there. " You see," he said ; " as 
 I ve got out of politics, I must decide what I m going 
 to do." 
 
 " And you want me to help you ? " 
 
 " Y e s." 
 
 " There s the Bank? " she said. " That ought to 
 take up a good deal of your time." 
 
 " Yes," he assented, as if the idea of the Bank was 
 one entirely new to him. " But," he added, with 
 more cheerfulness, " it won t take up all of my time." 
 
 " And there s your investments. You ve often 
 told me that men with money had their hands full 
 looking after it." 
 
 " I ve got good sized hands ! " returned Jimmy. 
 " And, besides," 
 
 " You ve got that Land Company out in Colo 
 rado ? You can give more attention to that now." 
 
 " I know all those things, I guess," he said 
 abruptly. 
 
 " But, I thought you wanted me to suggest what 
 you could do? " 
 
 " So I did. But well, I want something else ! " 
 
 " Why, you ve just left politics, because be- 
 because " 
 
 Jimmy nodded. That " because " held a world of 
 meaning. It indicated to him that she understood 
 some of his reasons, at least. And this, not only 
 fitted well with his own mood, but reflected credit on 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 499 
 
 her acumen. The fact was that he had told her 
 many things and allowed her to guess many more 
 that no one else ever knew ; therefore, she was better 
 able to pass fair judgment on his actions. It pleased 
 him to think that she approved of what he had done, 
 and he was sure that she did. " Yes," he responded ; 
 " I left just because. But that doesn t hinder me 
 from wanting something else; does it? " 
 
 She made no reply. 
 
 " Does it ? " he asked. " Does it hinder me from 
 wanting " 
 
 " No, of course not," put in Kate quickly. " Busi 
 ness " 
 
 " This is not business," he corrected instantly. 
 
 Their eyes met again, and his were not the first to 
 fall. But it was Kate who spoke. " Is this some 
 thing special?" she asked. 
 
 " It is, certainly something special." He said 
 it as if he was very sure. 
 
 For a minute they sat without speaking. Kate s 
 eyes were on her hands which were locked in her 
 lap. Jimmy was watching her; his were very 
 bright. " Don t you know? " he inquired at last. 
 
 " I suppose I should," she answered slowly. 
 
 " You do know." 
 
 Still she did not say she did, and he went on. 
 " Yes, you you know." Then, putting all his reso 
 lution to the test, "Don t you know? Don t you 
 know, Kate?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 500 
 
 And she said in a low voice ; " Yes, I guess I 
 know." 
 
 Jimmy looked in her face, now raised to his, and 
 was sure she told him the truth. But, for a little 
 while, she said nothing more; and he said noth 
 ing because, it seemed to him, that he had said it all. 
 
 He wondered of what she was thinking as she sat 
 there, her head turned to one side, resting on a hand. 
 It did not occur to him that she might be weighing 
 his qualities; they had known each other too long 
 and honestly for that. What he did understand was 
 that here was something in which his arguments and 
 his shrewdness could avail him nothing. It was be 
 yond him; he was only a petitioner. He realized 
 that there are nerves which are beyond one s control 
 at times. He longed to do something to aid his cause, 
 and could not. 
 
 Yet, with all the strangeness of this, one thing be 
 came more plain to him as the seconds sped by, and 
 she was silent and calm, when, so his instinct told 
 him, she should not be that way. Here was the Kate 
 he had always known a little sad and mute but not 
 confused, nor yet uncertain. In some way, he un 
 derstood that this was wrong. His heart, from 
 thumping wildly, grew heavy and sore and, perhaps, 
 rebellious. 
 
 Then, Kate turned her face to his once more, and, 
 right away, his resentment, if it was that, left him. 
 Though what he wanted to see was not in her face, 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 501 
 
 at least, he was sure that there was something there 
 that was very near it and very dear to him. Her 
 eyes were softly shining; maybe, there was a mist in 
 them. Her lips were parted, and told him a great 
 deal before she spoke. 
 
 " Dear, old Jimmy," she said. " How I wish I 
 could be the way you want me to be and the way 
 / want to be, too ! I tried hard to make myself think 
 I it was that way when I was so quiet just 
 now. I really did. But I want you to listen to me 
 for a little while. You will, won t you ? And you ll 
 know I m telling you the truth? " 
 
 Jimmy could only nod. It was still hard to speak, 
 only now, he had a queer, choky feeling, such as he 
 had never experienced before. It was as if all the 
 tears of forty years had been saved up for this time, 
 and had run down into his throat. Some of those 
 tears must have got into Kate s throat, too. 
 
 " Once upon a time," she said; " I set my heart 
 on something. And I got it, and then it wasn t 
 at all what I thought. You know what I mean? " 
 Jimmy nodded? "Then," she went on; "after a 
 while, I began to wonder, if, after all, I hadn t looked 
 in the wrong place for it for what I wanted. And, 
 for a while, I thought, I knew where it was, this 
 time, sure enough. There was someone came to me, 
 when I was first disappointed. No, it wasn t then 
 he first came to me ; for he was always coming to me, 
 when I needed him most. At any rate, I was almost 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 502 
 
 certain that he had what I wanted so much. But he 
 didn t say he had ; he didn t say anything about it. 
 He just was around, as he always had been, and 
 did what he could, and that was a great deal. I 
 thought about him, almost all the time, I guess; 
 thought I couldn t do anything for him. You know 
 who this was? " 
 
 Again Jimmy nodded. It was an odd, automatic, 
 little jerk of the head which, somehow, wrenched 
 him. But he was sitting back in his chair, gripping 
 the arms of it. He felt as if he were fixed there, with 
 only his head free to move, and his voice was gone. 
 Now and then, Kate s face and figure, as she leaned 
 toward him, were blurred ; and, yet, his face was dry. 
 
 "But, by and by," she continued; "I saw that 
 that I d been mistaken again. Then, I was glad 
 that I d never that he d never seen my mistake. It 
 would have been so easy to let him see it. Once, 
 when he told me about a promise he d remembered 
 for eighteen years, I nearly did let him see it. But I 
 didn t. Something kept me from it. Afterward, I 
 only hoped that he d never make the same mistake 
 I had. And, now now, he s made it." 
 
 " No, he hasn t ! " said Jimmy, finding his voice 
 all at once. " I haven t made any mistake! " he re 
 peated vehemently. " You know I haven t made 
 any mistake." 
 
 But she laid a hand gently on his. " Yes, you 
 have," she said, very low. " Oh, Jimmy ! I know you 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 503 
 
 have. Can t you see it? Why, why, it s just the 
 same as it used to be, when you and I sold papers. 
 It s just the same, only we ve grown up." She gave 
 a little sigh, and his fingers closed on hers. 
 
 He tried to say it wasn t so; but she went on, 
 " We ve been chums so many years that it seems as if 
 we were something else. But we aren t, Jimmy. 
 We aren t, Jimmy, dear ! " 
 
 " I know we are. I know we are," he re 
 turned stoutly, fighting against her conviction. 
 " I m not just your chum, anyway. I won t be it! " 
 he finished fiercely. 
 
 But she repeated softly, " Jimmy ! Jimmy ! don t 
 you see what I mean! I m right, indeed, I am 
 Jimmy." 
 
 Suddenly his resolution failed him. He was 
 seized with a sense of his helplessness, and this help 
 lessness he could not put aside. It struck him down; 
 he could only whisper, " You mean you we can t 
 be anything else? " It seemed to him almost as if 
 another person were saying the words. He under 
 stood that he had lost. But, even yet, he strove not 
 to accept the truth. She must tell him. 
 
 " No, we can t be anything else," Kate said 
 softly. 
 
 He had released her hand; she held out both of 
 them to him, and touched his. 
 
 Jimmy looked at them for a moment almost stu 
 pidly. He was groping for aid ; and, all at once, he 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 504 
 
 saw it was there in Kate s hands. He took them 
 both into his own. 
 
 " We re going to be what we ve always been," she 
 told him ; and he realized something of what it was to 
 have her for this. " We were chums when we sold 
 papers together," she added; " we were chums when 
 you stood by me, and helped me through so many 
 hard places, and you we re always going to be 
 chums? " 
 
 She halted, and Jimmy was looking into her calm, 
 trustful eyes with their veil of tears. And her smile, 
 which was a little sad, a little wistful, seemed to say, 
 " Jimmy! you ll do this for me? " 
 
 " Yes," he answered, as he held her hands fast. 
 " Yes, we ll always be chums." 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 505 
 
 4C A SK Mr. Doran to come in here," said 
 
 /-% Jimmy, one morning in February. It 
 
 was in his private office at the Union 
 
 Bank, and a conference between himself and the 
 
 Cashier of the Bank had just come to an end. The 
 
 financial market was unstable, the stock market in 
 
 a condition favorable to almost anything but security. 
 
 Jack Doran responded to the call. He said 
 " Good morning," and stood, waiting. 
 
 Jimmy slowly wrote some names on a sheet of 
 paper. He had never been a rapid penman, but, to 
 Jack, he now seemed to write more laboriously than 
 ever. One might almost detect a tremor in the plump 
 hand, veined with purple. His shoulders were 
 erect and his graying hair thick, but the cords that 
 were beginning to ridge his neck and the wrinkles 
 about his eyes were not to be mistaken. His voice, 
 however, was clear and steady, as he finished writ 
 ing, and, while glancing over the paper, said, " You 
 know, of course, that things look a little squally? 
 You saw that Mason and Company are in trouble; 
 and that it s said T. B. Jenkins is likely to be 
 affected?" 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 506 
 
 " Yes/ answered Jack. 
 
 " Well, we want to keep on th safe side. We ve 
 decided to watch th people I ve put down here 
 pretty closely." Jimmy looked up from the paper. 
 " We don t want to hurt their credit, of course. 
 We ll do all we can for em, so long as it ain t taking 
 too big risks. But there we stop. I ll tell th rest; 
 and I want you to be special careful. Their paper 
 and all that sort of thing. Anything with their 
 names on it, look at it hard and think it over before 
 you accept it, if any payment s to be made. You 
 understand? " 
 
 " Yes, I understand," answered Jack. He took 
 the paper. His glance traveled over it. " Peabody 
 and Makin? Are they in trouble? I thought they 
 were of the best." 
 
 " They re all right now as far as I can find 
 out. But they have connections. Stock brokers are 
 bound to. For another thing, they re heavily in 
 terested in York and Clayton Railroad; and well, 
 I don t like that over much." 
 
 "York and Clayton? Why, that s gilt-edged, 
 everybody says? " 
 
 "Who s everybody?" 
 
 " Why the best informed people. And the 
 stock s been steadily going up. It s generally be 
 lieved, so I ve been told, that it 11 be fifty per cent 
 higher inside of six months, anyhow." 
 
 " Maybe, maybe. But we re dealing with th pres- 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 507 
 
 ent, just now. What may happen six months from 
 to-day ain t Well, a lot of things might happen by 
 then. Anyway, York and Clayton ain t an asset of 
 this Bank ; so we re not interested in it, except to see 
 that too much of our customers credit doesn t hang 
 on it. Th stock market s a good place to keep out of, 
 particularly if you re in a Bank. 
 
 Jack did not respond. " Don t you think so?" 
 asked Jimmy. 
 
 Yes, of course, I do." 
 
 Jimmy had been studying the other s face. 
 " You re not looking well," he said. " What s th 
 matter, my boy?" 
 
 " Nothing s the matter with me," returned Jack. 
 He was smiling; but his denial was an affirmation 
 in fact. " At least, nothing much is the matter/ he 
 qualified. " I ve been sleeping badly lately ; that s 
 sort of knocked me out, I guess." 
 
 " You don t look right about th eyes, that s cer 
 tain. You look worried. I tell you what you do; 
 take a few days off. We don t want you laid up. 
 You " 
 
 " Oh, no ! I don t want to leave here. I well, I ve 
 got everything running smoothly. Another man d 
 muss it all up, maybe." 
 
 A stronger light flooded Jimmy s face. " Jack 
 you re all right ! " he said. " You talk th way I 
 like to hear a man talk. It s grit that s what it is." 
 
 Jimmy was aroused. Something mounted in his 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 508 
 
 veins like wine, and made his eyes sparkle. His 
 heart rejoiced itself with the thought that this was 
 the boy whom he had started in life Kate s boy, and 
 that he stood true to the mark. " Shake hands ! " he 
 cried. 
 
 But Jack had dropped the slip of paper with the 
 names on it, and had stooped to pick it up. So 
 the extended hand was not taken, and, instead, 
 patted him on the back. " But you must take those 
 days off, just th same," Jimmy went on. " When I 
 come home I ve got to go to Chicago, for a day or 
 so, this week we ll make you take your holiday, 
 then." 
 
 " Thank you " 
 
 " Not a bit," broke in Jimmy ; and, after a mo 
 ment, went on; " You see, Jack, you re more to me 
 than th cashier of this bank. You know that, don t 
 you? Why, ever since you was a little shaver, I ve 
 been watching you and planning for you. You re 
 just th same as if you was my son, in lots of ways. 
 If things go th way I want, you ll be right on top 
 here, at th Bank. I ain t going to last always, 
 though, I guess, I d knock out a good many that s 
 younger than me yet. But I m goin to have a lot of 
 good times seeing how you run things." 
 
 Jack strove to speak. Jimmy raised a protesting 
 hand. " Hold on there! " he said hastily. " Don t 
 you begin to say you re too kind and all that sort 
 of thing. It won t go down with me. Th old man s 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 509 
 
 too young to swallow such talk. I know what you 
 think; I ll take th words for granted. Besides, I ll 
 have more fun watching you working your way 
 ahead than you ll have doin th pushing. I ve been 
 through it all, and I m pretty nearly done with it. 
 That s where I ve got the call on you." 
 
 Jimmy chuckled. The idea of shifting the harness 
 from his shoulders because the pull was heavy amused 
 him. But it warmed his heart to think that soon he 
 was to have the one he had taught to pull strong and 
 fairly for a fellow in harness. He leaned forward, 
 and grasped Jack by the arm. " Stick to your post, 
 and keep to your word ! That s what I told you when 
 you first came here," he said gravely. " And you ve 
 done both," he added. " That s why you are where 
 you are to-day. And that s why you ll get on 
 farther. And that s why Well, it s a whole lot of 
 comfort to feel that th boy I staked on has turned 
 out dead straight ! " His voice was a little shaky, 
 but it was proud and happy, too. 
 
 " Dead straight ! " echoed Jack in a low, proud 
 tone so low that Jimmy barely heard him; he was 
 making a twist of the slip of paper, and there were 
 tears in his eyes. 
 
 " Yes, dead straight ! " repeated Jimmy. Then, as 
 Jack essayed to speak, " Don t you say another 
 word! Why, we re acting like a couple of old 
 women ! Get out of here ! Get out of here ! Tjon t 
 you see I ve got work to do? " 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 510 
 
 He wheeled around in his chair, and bent over his 
 desk. Hie dug at the corners of his eyes with vicious 
 knuckle, as Jack walked out. 
 
 Jimmy started for Chicago on the evening of that 
 day Tuesday. His errand was a vital one of per 
 sonal nature, but he expected to finish his business 
 and be home again by Saturday night of the same 
 week. 
 
 On Wednesday evening, however, he read disquiet 
 ing dispatches from his own city. The financial con 
 ditions there were threatening. He became uneasy. 
 To his mind, a local panic was foreshadowed by the 
 failure of two big firms. One of these was Peabody 
 & Makin ; the other had wide business ramifications. 
 But, receiving no word from the Bank he decided to 
 wait to finish his business. On Thursday morning 
 came news of the failure of T. B. Jenkins and of 
 the threatened collapse of a firm associated with the 
 Union Bank. Jimmy was on the train which left 
 Chicago one hour later; he just missed a telegram 
 sent him by the Vice-President of the Bank. 
 * * **. * 
 
 The Union Bank was in trouble. It was whispered 
 on the street early in the forenoon of that Thursday. 
 A hundred tongues spread the news broadcast. By 
 noon the report was a circumstantial story. The 
 Bank had been hard hit by the failures of T. B. 
 Jenkins and an allied banking house. To this the 
 gossip of the street added an astonishing bit of news. 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 519 
 
 As he passed inside a figure thrust itself through 
 the crowd, and hurried after him. It was Jack 
 Doran, and Jimmy had reached the door of the Direc 
 tors Room before he was overtaken. But with his 
 hand on the door knob, he halted at the sound of 
 Jack s voice, and turned. "What is it?" he de 
 manded. 
 
 Jack unbuttoned his coat and drew a package from 
 his pocket. He held it out. " There are fifty thou 
 sand dollars in securities," he said. " They are for 
 the Bank ; I could not get them earlier ; they kept us 
 waiting at the Trust Company." 
 
 " Fifty thousand dollars ! " said Jimmy. " Where 
 did they come from? " 
 
 " From Molly. She gave them to me for the 
 Bank." 
 
 " From " Jimmy began. Then Jack s face 
 
 told him something which made him pause. A mo 
 ment he stood without speaking, the stern lines 
 fading from about his mouth, his eyes lighting. If 
 he did not comprehend all, he understood enough to 
 make him put a hand on Jack s shoulder and give it a 
 
 great grip. " Jack," he said, " She s a good girl. 
 
 But keep the securities, they re not needed." He 
 dropped his hand, and passed into the Directors 
 Room. 
 
 And there he came upon a dozen men with anxious 
 faces grouped about a table. It was a leaden day, 
 but it seemed to them as if he brought sunshine with 
 
J. DEVLIN BOSS 520 
 
 them. A murmur of relief came from them, and 
 they were all upon their feet. 
 
 Jimmy removed his hat. " Good morning, gen 
 tlemen," he said. " It appears we have a good many 
 callers to-day. You re sorry, I take it from your 
 looks; but, in one way, I am not." 
 
 They regarded him with amazement, and he 
 smiled back, as he often had done when things 
 seemed all wrong to others and they pulled long 
 faces. "Yes," he went on; "I m glad; for here s 
 our chance to show we meant what we said when we 
 took hold of this Bank." 
 
 He laid on the table a long, black leather bag, and 
 opened it. Then he looked up. " There," he said; 
 " is $200,000 in securities. They re all right; they ll 
 see us through, I guess. I would like a receipt, 
 please." 
 
 There was a moment of astonished silence, then a 
 long drawn breath. One of the Directors found 
 voice to ask, " These securities? Whose are they? " 
 
 " That doesn t matter," answered Jimmy. " But, 
 as a matter of fact, they were mine. Now " 
 
 " Your own? But you re not responsible " 
 
 Jimmy interrupted instantly, " I m President of 
 this Bank, I believe. And I said nobody was going 
 to lose any money here, didn t I ? Yes ? Well, then 
 I meant it. It was my word." 
 
40i67 
 
 I**