Setting his telephone receiver down the Honorable William Linder lost himself in conjecture. He had just given an appointment to his tried and true, but quite impersonal enemy, Mr. Horace Waldemar. “What can Waldemar want of me?” ran his thoughts. “And who is this friend, Jones, that he’s bringing? Jones? Jones! Jones?!” He tried it in three different accents, without extracting any particular meaning therefrom. “Nothing much in the political game,” he decided. It was with a mingling of gruffness and dignity that he greeted Mr. Waldemar an hour later. The introduction to Average Jones he acknowledged with a curt nod. “Want a job for this young man, Waldemar?” he grunted. “Not at present, thank you,” returned the newspaper owner. “Mr. Jones has a few arguments to present to you.” “Arguments,” repeated the Honorable William Lender contemptuously. “What kind of arguments?” “Political arguments. Mayoralty, to be specific. To be more specific still, arguments showing why you should drop out of the race.” “A pin-feather reformer, eh?” The politician turned to meet Average Jones’ steady gaze and mildly inquiring smile. “Do you—er—know anything of submarine mines, Mr. Linder?” drawled the visitor. “Huh?” returned the Honorable William Linder, startled. “Submarine mines,” explained the other., “Mines in the sea, if you wish words of one syllable.” The lids of the Honorable Linder contracted. “You’re in the wrong joint,” he said, “this ain’t the Naval College.” “Thank you. A submarine mine is a very ingenious affair. I’ve recently been reading somewhat extensively on the subject. The main charge is some high explosive, usually of the dynamite type. Above it is a small jar of sulphuric acid. Teeth, working on levers, surround this jar. The levers project outside the mine. When a ship strikes the mine, one or more of the levers are pressed in. The teeth crush the jar. The sulphuric acid drops upon the main charge and explodes it. Do you follow me.” “I’ll follow you as far as the front door,” said the politician balefully. He rose. “If the charge were in a chair, in the cushion of an easy chair, we’ll say, on the third floor of a house in Brooklyn—” The Honorable William Linder sat down again. He sat heavily. “—the problem would be somewhat different. Of course, it would be easy to arrange that the first person to sit down in the chair would, by his own weight, blow himself up. But the first person might not be the right person, you know. Do you still follow me?” The Honorable William Linder made a remark like a fish.