I'll be treasurer an' hol' de cash."

"Croaker, you may not be eloquent, but you have a genius all your own. I
begin dimly to perceive what you are driving at. I must think this over.
Meet me here to-morrow at noon."

The district in which the great fight between Boozy and Bockerheisen was
to occur was close and doubtful. Great interests were at stake in the
election. Colonel Boozy and Mr. Bockerheisen were personal enemies.
Their saloons were not far apart as to distance, and each felt that his
business, as well as his political future, depended on his success in
this campaign. A third candidate, a Republican, was in the field, but
small attention was paid to him. A few days after Dennie and The Croak
had their chance meeting in Houston Street, Dennie walked into Colonel
Boozy's saloon. Boozy stood by the bar in gorgeous array.

"How are you, Colonel?" said Dennie.

"It's McCafferty!" cried the Colonel, "an' as hearty as ever. As
smilin', too, an' ready, I'm hopin', ter take a han' in the fight fer
his ould frind."

"I am that, Colonel. How's it going?"

"Shmokin' hot, Dennie, an' divil a wan o' me knows whose end o' the
poker is hottest."

[Illustration: COLONEL BOOZY.]

"It's your end, Colonel, that generates the heat, and Dutchy's end that
does the burning."

"There's poorer wit than yours, Dennie, out of the insane asylums. I'll
shtow that away in me mind an' fire it off in the Boord the nexht time I
make a speech. If I had your brains, lad, I'd a made more out av 'em
than you have."

"You've done well enough with your own," said Dennie. "They tell me it's
been a good year for business in the Board, Colonel."

"Not over-good, Dennie. The office aint what it was once. It useter be
that ye cud make a nate pile in wan terrum, but now wid the assessmints
an' the price of gettin' there, yer lucky if ye come out aven."

"The trouble is that you fool away your money, Colonel. You ought not to
hand over to every bummer that comes along. You should be discreet.
There's a big floating vote in this district, and you can float still
more into it if you go about it the right way."

The Colonel looked curiously into Dennie's ingenuous blue eyes, and said
with an indifferent air, "Ye mought be right, and then agin ye
moughtn't."

"Oh, certainly, we don't know as much before election as we do after."

"Is yer mind workin', Dennie? Air ye figgerin' at somethin'?"

"Oh, no; I happened to meet The Croak this morni