The open war, the war that the reformers and the public saw, was, however, waging. The Municipal Reform League had taken city headquarters in an office-building in Broadway below Madison Square weeks ago, before they began their search for a candidate. At that time divisional headquarters were opened in every ward in New York, and the remnants of an older reform organization, left from a defeat ten years old, were gathered and cemented for present use. Nelson, Venable, and Yeates were working day and night with their lieutenants, and when Luke returned to his apartments, the loneliness that he was beginning to feel because of the sudden end of his duties under Leighton, was banished by the news that the League headquarters had been telephoning madly for him.
He bought a newspaper on his way downtown and discovered what was one of the things that his associates wanted to see him about: Leighton had issued a statement saying that he had forced Luke’s resignation from the District-Attorney’s staff because of Luke’s inefficiency.
"You must nail that lie immediately!" cried Venable as soon as Luke entered the offices of the League. The old man was standing at a desk with Yeates and Nelson beside him.
"Why did he fire you, anyway?" asked Yeates. "I always thought Leighton was a rather decent kind of fellow."
"Jealousy," suggested Nelson. "He was afraid of him."
Luke sat on a table and dangled his long legs. He did not like the necessity that Leighton had put upon him.
"Of course, he didn’t discharge you at all," said Venable. "We all know that. But we have called the committee for the day after to-morrow, and you must make the public see the matter as we do."
"I’m not so sure that he didn’t fire me," said Luke. He chose to be blind to his hearers’ astonishment. "It was a race to see whether he’d chuck me or me him, and I think it ended in a dead-heat."
"But the reason?" he commanded. "You must give the full story to the public. We stand for absolute honesty in politics, and we can’t begin with any suppression of facts in public office."
"Well," said Luke, "I think I gave Leighton, in a general way, to understand I believed he was willing to use the Money Power in politics, if he could get it to use." He smiled at them. "Does sound rather vague, doesn’t it?"
