"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. "Aren’t they beautiful?" he asked. "Quite." "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." The Judge put down the vase. "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?" "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." If he had not known it, the Judge’s face betrayed no surprise. "Really, Mr. Huber, I told you at our last interview that I had no professional interest in this matter." "You admitted that the people back of all this were your friends." "I _said_ that I was a friend of certain persons." "Then, you might as well say now that your friends intend to prevent my election and that they’ll use any means to do it." "Don’t get excited, Mr. Huber." The Judge’s right hand waved a deliberate protest against Luke’s violent language. "Of course, I say nothing of the sort. What I do say is that you must understand that your own plan of action is bound to alienate the voters. There are more people interested in this election than you and me—more even than my friends. A great many people don’t want to see you elected District-Attorney. There are the business men, there are the police, and there are the people of the underworld. You have been reckless enough to make no ethical distinctions. You lump the good with the bad, and attack everybody. Well, you must not be surprised at the result." Luke kept to his low key.