He shook his head. "I was in politics a good many years. We've got to get out printed matter, we've got to spend something for advertising, we've got to--approach some of the Councillors the right way." She sat up in horror. "Not--_bribe_ them!" "Oh, dear, no! You didn't think _that_ of me!" "No, but when you _said_--" "I said they had to be 'approached.' I didn't mean corruption; I meant enlightenment." He rubbed his nose reflectively. "But the cost is approximately the same." "Of course, I trust your judgment, Theodore, but ... how big a fund do you suppose we'll want." "Oh, I should think five thousand would do it." "Five--! Theodore Mix, _how_ could you spend five thousand _dollars_ for such a thing? There isn't that much in the treasury! There's hardly _one_ thousand." "My dear, if I were in your place, I'd protect my ante. I'd--" "What's all that gibberish?" "I said," he corrected hastily, "we've got too much at stake to risk any failure when a little money would guarantee success." "Would five thousand dollars guarantee it?" "If I had that much in cash, to spend here and there as I saw the need of it--take one type of man out to dinner a few times, where I could get close to him--loan another type fifty dollars if he asked me for it (and some of 'em would)--hire detectives to shadow another type--" "Detectives!" "Yes. To check up their habits. Suppose we found a man gambling on the sly; we'd hold that over his head and--" "Humph! I don't like it much, but in a good cause it may be justifiable." "And leaflets and circulars and one thing and another.... But if I have to go out and get permission from a finance committee before I can let go of a dime, I can't do _any_thing. I'd have to have the money so I could use it exactly as I needed it. And if I did, I'll bet I could get support you never dreamed of. Get outside people to bring pressure on the Council." He gazed at the ceiling. "Why, with a leeway of five thousand, I'd even have the Exhibitor's Association with us. I'd have--" "Think so?" "I _know_ so." "How?" "Because long before I was in the League, I was in politics. When I say I know, I _know_. Of course, the Association's help would only go to show that they see the light in respect to their own business--it wouldn't cover all the whole scope of the amendment, but even so--" "Theodore, you know politics and I don't. But both of us know the proverb about what you catch flies with. So we'll try both methods together. You can put out the molasses, and I'll put out the vinegar; and between us, we ought to get somewhere." "We can't fail," said Mr. Mix, sitting on needles.