"But not of your omnipotence, Judge; for I did get the nomination. What were the circumstances?"
"You can’t expect to hurt the more important business interests without hurting the lesser ones; and the lesser dislike being hurt even more than the greater, Mr. Huber."
This time the Judge’s smile was a song without words.
"Very well," said the younger man. "As I say, I overcame the opposition inside the League. I believe I can overcome the same opposition at the polls."
"I hope so," Stein answered. "But it is a pity that you have not more powerful backing."
"I have a very active following at any rate."
"It will require a great deal of activity to overcome the prejudices of the majority."
"Yes, but I’m not talking about the activity of the voters. I am talking about the active following I am having from my apartments to my office, and from my office wherever else I go."
Judge Stein leaned over to smell the roses on his desk. When he looked up, his firm mouth seemed innocent. He offered the vase to Luke.
"I often think it is such a pity that they haven’t more perfume. What they have is good, but it is not a great deal. What we gain in form, we lose in scent. The law of compensation, I suppose."
"I know this detective had orders to let me see he was following me."
"I am sorry you don’t care for roses," he said. "Yes, Mr. Huber, I dare say you are followed. You are fighting the Democratic police force and the Republican District-Attorney’s office; they both have detectives attached to them, and I have heard that they frequently use their detectives to watch their political rivals. You are fighting the Progressive organization, too, and they could use private detectives. I quite agree with you that it isn’t pleasant."
"This fellow isn’t on the job to watch me. He’s only used to frighten me. I’m not easily frightened, Judge."
"No. If I had been, I’d have turned tail when your friends tried to ruin a business I am interested in, or when they tried to have me caught in a police-raid." Luke spoke as if he were mentioning incidents in the lives of people dead these thousand years. "The raiders didn’t find me, as you, of course, know. What you don’t know is that the business move has failed just as badly."