litics with him. Gallagher brought some; Dennis others; his
fellow-ward delegates, more. But Peter could not be induced to commit
himself. He would talk candidates and principles endlessly, but without
expressing his own mind. Twice he was asked point blank, "Who's your
man?" but he promptly answered that he had not yet decided. He had
always read a Democratic paper, but now he read two, and a Republican
organ as well. His other reading lessened markedly, and the time gained
was spent in talking with men in the "district." He even went into the
saloons and listened to the discussions.

"I don't drink," he had to explain several times, "because my mother
doesn't like it." For some reason this explanation seemed to be
perfectly satisfactory. One man alone sneered at him. "Does she feed yer
still on milk, sonny?" he asked. "No," said Peter, "but everything I
have comes from her, and that's the kind of a mother a fellow wants to
please; don't you think so?" The sneerer hesitated, and finally said he
"guessed it was." So Peter was made one of them, and smoked and
listened. He said very little, but that little was sound, good sense,
and, if he did not talk, he made others do so; and, after the men had
argued over something, they often looked at Peter, rather than at their
opponents, to see if he seemed to approve of their opinions.

"It's a fine way he has wid the b'ys," Dennis told his mother. "He makes
them feel that he's just the likes av them, an' that he wants their
minds an' opinions to help him. Shure, they'd rather smoke one pipe av
his tobaccy than drink ten times at Gallagher's expense."

After Peter had listened carefully and lengthily, he wrote to "The
Honorable Lemuel Porter, Hudson, N.Y.," asking him if he could give him
an hour's talk some day. The reply was prompt, and told Peter that
Porter would be glad to see him any time that should suit his
convenience. So Peter took a day off and ran up to Hudson.

"I am trying to find out for whom I should vote," he explained to
Porter. "I'm a new man at this sort of thing, and, not having met any of
the men talked of, I preferred to see them before going to the
convention."

Porter found that Peter had taken the trouble to go over a back file of
papers, and read some of his speeches.

"Of course," Peter explained, "I want, as far as possible, to know what
you think of questions likely to be matters for legislation."

"The difficulty in doing that, Mr. Stirling,"