Taking pity on this forlorn little creature, I followed her from a
house whence she had crept out into the cold, hoping to be of some
use; she came up here, and rang at your door. I heard what passed
between you. As a citizen, I should have been ashamed, had I
unfortunately been among those who placed you in power; I must say
it--your conduct to this poor starved thing, shocked me beyond
utterance. I thank God that no vote of mine aided to lift you where
you are."

"And so you are a policeman of this ward. Very well," said the Mayor;
and the sneer upon his face died away while he began to pace the room,
the soft fall of his slippers upon the carpet giving a cat-like
stillness to his movements.

He felt that a man who could thus fearlessly speak out his just
indignation, was not the kind of person to persecute openly. Besides,
it was not in this man's nature to do anything openly. Like a mole,
he burrowed out his plans under ground, and when forced to brave the
daylight, always cunningly allowed some pliant tool to remove the
earth that was unavoidably cast up in his passage. His genius lay
in that low cunning and prudent management, with which small men of
little intellect and no heart sometimes deceive the world. He had
long outlived all feelings sufficiently strong to render him
impetuous, and was utterly devoid of that generous self-respect which
prompts a man to repel an attack fearlessly and at once. In short,
he was one of those who _lie still and wait_, like the crafty pointer
dogs that creep along the grass, hunting out game for others to shoot
down for them, and devouring the spoil with a keener relish than the
noble hound that makes the forest ring as he plunges upon his prey.