"
Porter found that Peter had taken the trouble to go over a back file of
papers, and read some of his speeches.
"Of course," Peter explained, "I want, as far as possible, to know what
you think of questions likely to be matters for legislation."
"The difficulty in doing that, Mr. Stirling," he was told, "is that
every nominee is bound to surrender his opinions in a certain degree to
the party platform, while other opinions have to be modified to new
conditions."
"I can see that," said Peter. "I do not for a moment expect that what
you say to-day is in any sense a pledge. If a man's honest, the poorest
thing we can do to him is to tie him fast to one course of action, when
the conditions are constantly changing. But, of course, you have
opinions for the present state of things?"
Something in Peter's explanation or face pleased Mr. Porter. He demurred
no more, and, for an hour before lunch, and during that meal, he talked
with the utmost freedom.
"I'm not easily fooled on men," he told his secretary afterwards, "and
you can say what you wish to that Stirling without danger of its being
used unfairly or to injure one.
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