John T. McIntyre

“ Kerrigan was ringed in by dozens of outstretched hands; his appeals for a hearing were drowned by the clamour of his partisans.
James Kelly was stricken mute; a moment before he had seen victory in his grasp; now it had eluded him and was dancing away in the distance. McQuirk looked on at the scene of disorder, astonished at Larry’s act. He had expected to hear the name of a man steeped in the factional differences of the ward—a [280] man easily beaten—and now he was at a loss, for here was one not only without political enemies but with fast friends in every faction of the party. ”

“ The exact nature of the noble twain’s errand still remains a mystery, for the grocer bounced through the doorway and scattered the tots in every direction.
“Ye young villyans!” shouted Clancy with a great assumption of anger; “sure a body can’t hear themselves think, for yez. Don’t yez know that Mary Carroll do be at death’s dure, ye bla’gards!”
James Kelly polished the walnut top of his bar and nodded a “Good Luck” to Schwartz as the barber was about to swallow his evening glass of beer. ”

“ We got a man of our own.” He flourished the glass, seeming to defy contradiction. “We got a man of our own,” repeated he; “and he’s a winner in a walk! Gents, I’ll ask you for t’ree rips for old man McGlory!”
The yell that followed split the silence like a knife; the man with the glass vanished from the blind; the piano resumed its measured beat; the triumphant chorus once more began.
“Youse just asked me what us people was agoin’ to do,” said Larry. “Well the gang just saved me the trouble o’ tellin’ yez.”
“So McGlory will go afore the convention, Murphy?” asked Kelly. ”

“ Each man in the hall with a ballot to cast was under pressure to vote against them, and the pressure would be increased a hundred-fold when McQuirk got upon the ground.
Gartenheim had Larry Murphy in a corner giving him some fatherly advice; O’Connor stood listening, with approving nods; Kerrigan, red-faced and perspiring, came bustling up.
“Gentlemen,” asked he, “who are you for, for chairman?”
“Who do you want?” asked Gartenheim.
“Well, I’d like to see Pete Comisky hold the office. He’s a straight man.” ”

“ Larry’s face worked with rage; McGonagle walked gloomily along at his side, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his head bent dejectedly.
“We’ve got it where we live,” said the latter. “It was all serene till we heard o’ this, and if he’s goin’ to vote for Kelly, why we can’t stop him, that’s all; we can’t do nawthin’.”
“T’ell we can’t!” cried the enraged Murphy. “Say, look’et here, Goose; one hour after Tim Daily says ‘yea’ for Kelly he’ll be in St. Mary’s done up in splints! He’s played crooked with us people, ain’t that right? And we’ll git even if we have to t’ump him. Ah!” ”

“ And Larry only saw the change from the outside. When she came tripping along on Sunday morning, prayer book in hand, on her way to church, he, standing on the corner in front of Regan’s cigar store, rigged out in a cream-coloured overcoat with pearl buttons, saluted her with a nod of assumed indifference and she would return it in kind and continue on her way, wondering: “What in the world Larry Murphy saw in standing on Regan’s corner all day of a Sunday.” ”

“ Mary’s lips trembled and her voice broke slightly as she greeted him.
“Bear up,” said he gently; “death is the common lot; and then he is very old.” He bent over the bed; the bar of light had shifted and old Larry’s hair shone like silver under its warm touch. “He should have the last rites of the Church,” said the priest. Then turning to Kelly and Larry he added: “I will ask you to leave the room for a few moments, please. ”

“ Keep quiet and on the night of the primaries half of them will forget it, and the other half won’t bother their heads. Enough picked people to elect each delegate is all we want; when the whole crowd starts to chip in, it keeps you guessing. ”

“ Dead silence followed. McQuirk looked dumbfounded; Larry smiled sweetly at him over the heads of the intervening delegates. The vote was a rising one, and the temporary chairman surrendered the gavel to Haley.
McQuirk was dazed, but respectful; old Kelly smiled broadly and rubbed his hands gleefully; young Murphy moved among the opposition like a spirit of wisdom.
McQuirk once more arose. “Let’s keep things moving,” said he. “There has been no protest against anyone sitting in the convention, with the exception of [271] Mr. Daily and Mr. Levitsky. We will now look into their cases.” ”

“ The right kind o’ people never forgets who puts them in office. Do what’s regular, Tim, that’s all I ask, do what’s regular; vote to hold the organization together and keep the snide reformers out. And, remember, we’ve got a congressman to elect, the only one o’ the right stripe in the city.” He opened the door and stood aside while Haley stepped out. “Good night, Tim; I just thought I’d drop in and talk to you about the thing. No harm done?”
“Not a bit,” answered Mr. Burns, “Good night.”
And so it went from house to house, from alley to alley, from division to division through the ward. ”

“ It is not often that a man wishes himself in the wrong; but that, at this moment, was Larry’s most earnest desire.
“I’ll settle it to-night,” he said to himself. “I’ll brace up and give her a chance to flag me.”
Half past eleven saw Larry hurrying toward Clancy’s. Two of O’Connor’s hacks were drawn up at the curb before the grocery, from one of which McGonagle and Larkin were assisting Rosie, Annie and Maggie. Clancy and O’Hara were alighting from the second, which they had shared with the two bridegrooms; a flock of marvelling children were gathered upon the sidewalk ”

“ James Kelly and his supporters gazed glumly on; the delirious display was not pleasant to them.
“Bloody wars,” breathed Owen in Haley’s ear, “d’yez see that, Gratten? They’ve made up.”
[265] “It looks bad for Kelly,” admitted Mr. Haley; “and he don’t like it for a cent.”
“Here’s them two old guys doin’ the love feast stunt,” sneered young Kelly, “right out in the open. It’s bin fixed to cop votes with; a blind man kin see that. It makes me sick!”
“We’ll do that all right,” said Goose McGonagle; “youse’ll all be a sick lot o’ ducks after we slam youse a few.” ”

“ Kerrigan stared at him amazedly. [267] “Haley! Why you’re mad. Haley would rule against us every time.”
“He might—if we let him. It’s just like this. Haley’s got the chairmanship cinched; no one else can win against him; I’ve been over the bunch, and I know.” Larry took his cigar from his mouth and pointed it at Kerrigan, impressively. “The chairmanship’s the first test o’ strength. Make a fight on that and lose, and youse might as well chuck up the sponge, on the spot. We’ve got grafters on our side, Johnnie, and you know it; if they see us shake they’ll fly the coop.” ”

“ Dick Nolan and Roddy Ferguson, who formed the connecting links between the formerly hostile factions of Gartenheim and O’Connor, were working desperately with delegates; they felt that it depended upon [266] them to secure a solid vote from these two bodies, and they spared themselves no effort. Neither the undertaker nor the contractor had been active in the canvass, so their personal followings were not heavy in the convention; but it served to give the anti-Kelly faction a slight advantage that they were compelled to exert themselves to the utmost to sustain. ”

“ Who are ye goin’ to throw the vote for?”
Larry looked at him sourly.
“The reg’lar crowd, eh?” sneered he. “That’s a good t’ing, ain’t it?” to McGonagle, “that’s a real good t’ing.” He turned once more to McQuirk and demanded: “Say who is the regulars, eh? Ain’t it the majority o’ the party? And if none o’ us ain’t got the big end o’ it, who d’youse call the reg’lar push, eh? Ain’t us guys, what’s workin’ agin Kelly, inside the lines? Don’t we say our say? And don’t we win if we hold the people?” ”

“ McQuirk, the Kellys and some others of their adherents were gathered in the doorway leading into the entry; they greeted the young men with a laugh.
“All to the bad, eh?” sneered Martin. “Yer star nag’s on’y a sellin’ plater.”
“What’d I tell ye, boys,” said McQuirk with the easy assurance of a man who has won his fight. “There’s only one man. We’ve got the nomination safe, ye can see that. Now don’t be sore-heads; be nice, clean boys, an’ ye won’t miss anything.”
[276] Kerrigan hurried into the convention hall without replying; but Larry turned on the boss like a sullen bear. ”

“ Here the magistrate laughed, but the boss looked glum.
“That young Murphy,” said he, “is bothering me some. I don’t like the way he is jumping into this thing. He’s sore on Kelly, eh?”
“I should say so! He’d give him the knife in a minute. Say,” continued Moran, suddenly, “ain’t you on the wrong track, McQuirk? You don’t want to make an enemy of Murphy, he’s growin’ up and beginning [196] to take notice, don’t you know? Keep him in line; one young one’s as good as a half dozen old ones, and they do more and don’t ask as much. ”

“ They crowded the corners of dimly lit rooms with the shadows of those departed, and the very teachings of religion were so distorted as to be made to supply exorcisms against agencies of evil and tokens calculated to render powerless their incantations. ”

“ Mason smiled at Larry’s literal interpretation of his words and made a vague remark regarding the blessings of liberty. But the other received it with contempt.
“That’s got moss on it,” said he. “Liberty’s all right, but it don’t put beef and beans into a man. There ain’t a mug in this ward that ain’t got it to [103] lose; but they don’t lay in bed in the mornin’ thinkin’ about it, either, when the whistles are a blowin’; they have to climb down the street, eatin’ their breakfast out o’ one hand and buttonin’ their overalls with the other.” ”

“ Ain’t that right?”
“A man entirely without money,” said Mason, “is certainly an object for sympathy.”
Larry gestured his contempt.
“I’d like to deal in that,” said he. “If I could sell it at two bits a crate I’d make money till youse couldn’t rest. The lobsters what runs the beanery’s got sympathy to give away; but youse couldn’t coax a beef stew out o’ the kitchen if ye had a smile like Maude Adams. And the gent that runs the hock shop keeps it in stock too, but the same guy wouldn’t lend youse a half a plunk on a pair o’ bags wit’ a hole in ’em if ye was spittin’ blood. ”

“ He kin carry the ward, with youse on the ticket, hands down. And that’s McQuirk’s game, every time. As long as he’s on the side that wins he can make good, ye know, and any time they need the ward in a deal they have to come to him with the money.”
“Owen Dwyer seems to think,” said Mason, “that [295] the election is only a matter of the size of Kerrigan’s majority.”
“That’s right,” said Larry. “In this ward, and in all the others for that matter, the fightin’s done at the primaries; the guy what’s named in the regular way by the party what runs the ward, has got the election cinched.” ”

“ Larry glowered at them in bovine fury. “I went into this mix,” declared he, his right hand beating upon his left, “to win! And we’re goin’ to win if we have to tear up the ward be the roots! McQuirk’s played a foxy game, and worked some of our people for rank [218] suckers, see? But we’ll kick the props from under him and do him brown, d’ye hear? We’ll do him brown!”
“How?” ventured McGonagle.
“How? I don’t care a damn how we do it! We ain’t a’goin’ to let him play us for good t’ings, are we?”
“Let’s go see Daily,” suggested Goose. ”

“ But if the pick swinger gits down on his back, the main guy cashes his time ticket, hires a Polack, an’ don’t care a picayune if his friends are invited to meet at two an’ go at t’ree, an’ he has a plain black box and an undertaker’s wagon, with a drunken carriage washer to drive it.”
“But all employers are not so unfeeling; some are heard of, now and then, who help their people out of the hard places.”
“That might be right,” agreed Larry; “but I never piked off one that was out o’ breath through handin’ out money. ”

“ I don’t want to get no blood on me shirt front.”
“Keep yer eyes on Foley,” whispered Mike to McGonagle. “I’ll look out for Daily.”
“D’ye t’ink ye kin hold him even? He pulls the beam fifty pounds more’n youse.”
“I wouldn’t care,” smiled Mike, “if he was as big as the side o’ a house. The bigger he is the harder he’ll fall.”
[144] “Youse’re a nice-lookin’ pill, ain’t ye?” were Kelly’s first words. “Floor Manager, too,” sneeringly; “why, youse don’t know a lady when ye see one.”
“She’s crooked!” remarked Larry, “and youse know she is.”
“You’re a liar,” snarled Martin. ”

“ Coogan’s breath grew short through answering the calls.
First it was McGonagle and Larkin, dressed in their best, with beaming faces and movements of suppressed excitement.
“Everyt’ing’s all to the velvet,” said Goose airily. “The girls have been up and dressed since five o’clock, and Father Dawson’ll do his turn at eleven, sharp.”
“Say, Larry,” put in Jimmie, “one bridesmaid’s goin’ to do for both; who d’youse t’ink it is?”
“I don’t know,” replied Larry.
“It’s Maggie Dwyer,” said Jimmie. “Say, there’s a girl for yer life! She’s got ’em all tied hand an’ foot.” ”

“ I ain’t a-backheelin’ you or any other man; it’s the reformers as a bunch that I’m hittin’. When they hear of a crooked job they start to kick up the dust, hold meetin’s at the Academy of Music and do other red-hot stunts; then the first t’ing youse know they’re backin’ up the worst kind of a gang of tin horn pipes who are on’y fightin’ the administration because they ain’t in on the rake-off. If they win out, the pipes git the plums and work ranker jobs than the other bunch ever thought of, and then the reformers flop over into the other camp and trot the race all over again. ”

“ Scene III.
“IT’S an ill wind that blows nobody good,” muttered Malachi O’Hara, as he stood looking through his store window, his eyes resting upon Goose McGonagle who had just drawn his wagon up at the curb. “She’s the lucky girl, so she is.”
Goose swung himself from the step of the wagon, a milk-pail in his hand. Filling the pitcher, resting for the purpose upon the counter, Goose addressed O’Hara.
“I’m sorry,” said he, “that election comes off so soon after Mary Carroll’s funeral. Larry ain’t feelin’ fit for a bruisin’ fight, yet.” ”

“ I often seen youse brush elbows with him on the street, and him turn and look after ye. He’d a-spoke to ye if youse had give him on’y half a chance, see?”
“Didn’t he have a chance when I was a kid? Didn’t he have a chance when me father died and the neighbours in the alley had to take up a collection to bury him? Did he do anyt’ing for me then? Not on yer life, he didn’t! He let ’em put me in a Home.”
“But, say, that wuz a dead long time ago, ain’t that right? If youse put a stick o’ wood in the stove it’ll burn hard at first, won’t it—but it’ll burn out at last, eh? ”

“ Murphy was a friend o’ Larkin’s; he wouldn’t play him dirt like that!”
“What’s Larkin got to do with it?”
[199] “Why him an’ Rose was engaged—on the quiet, ye know.”
“Whew!” Jerry whistled through his teeth and frowned across the table at the other. “I’ll bet the best skate we’ve got in the stable that Murphy don’t know a thing about it.” ”