ed the great crowd that was surging into the Cooper Union, he
rubbed his hands and gleamed his teeth with such intensity of emotion
that the Rev. Dr. Lillipad Froth, who was standing near by, felt his
flesh a-creeping.

It was certainly an extraordinary crowd. It had assembled almost in an
instant. Scarcely had the policemen taken their places at the doors of
the Cooper Union when a bulky, variegated young man stepped up to one of
them.

"Hello!" he said.

"Hello, Meejor," responded the officer.

"When'll yer open de door?"

"Air ye wantin' t' git in, Meejor?"

"Doncher know I got a gang to-night?"

"So ye have, Meejor, so ye have. Oi was hearin' about it, av coorse.
It's the Tim Tuff Assowseashun, aint it?"

"Now, looker yere!" said Tuff sharply, "Aincher got no orders 'bout dis
meetin'?"

"Oi have that, Meejor. Oi was towld that you an' some friends av yourn
moight be a-wantin' seats, an' Oi was ter see that ye got 'em."

[Illustration: HE RUBBED HIS HANDS AND GLEAMED HIS TEETH.]

"Dat's all right, den. Me an' my frien's 'll be along in about ten
minutes, an' dey'll be enough of us ter fill de hall, an' dere's one
t'ing yer wants ter keep in yer head, and dat's dis--ef me an' my
frien's don't get a chance ter jam dis house before anybody else is
'lowed inside de door, de Hon'able Doyle O'Meagher 'll be wantin' ter
know de reason why!"

Having thus delivered himself Tuff sauntered down the Bowery, and
presently from all points of the compass a tremendous rabble began to
pour into Astor Place and to mass itself in front of the Cooper Union.
Tuff himself reappeared in a few moments, and when Colonel Sneekins gave
the signal for the doors to be opened Tuff and his friends took easy and
complete possession of the house.

Meanwhile the Hon. Perfidius Ruse stood in a little room at the rear of
the stage receiving the invited guests of the occasion. Mr. Pickles, the
well-known Broome Street grocer, assumed a look of intense morality and
importance, as the Mayor asked him how he did and expressed his
gratification at seeing the honored name of Pickles--a power in the
commercial world--enrolled among the friends of reform. The appearance
of General Divvy put the Mayor in quite a flutter, and when the General
told him that he positively must consent to run again, and that he was
the only hope of the Reformers, the Mayor was much affected.

"I fear I am," he replied, with a mournful shake of the head, as much as