Arizona republican., 1911-04-02
DANIEL TANK, JUNGLE BEAST By p. C. Macfarlane. Copyright. 1909. by rle Pearson Pulp
 fishing Company.
By p. C. Macfarlane.

trust 'em, said Daniel Tank, Boss, bringing his great hulking fist down with a resounding thump upon the little flat-topped desk before him.
 Tanks office was the dingy front room over the cigar store of Heck & Heck, at the intersection of two streets where cornered four wards, the control of which had marked the beginning of his political ascendency. On these four wards the politics of the city turned as on a hub, and Tank was the axle on which the hub itself revolved AS to complexion, Tank was leathery. As to figure. he escaped being tubby only be- cause his body was so long His gross belly spread itself up and down and around, enveloping him, yet leaving free immense arms and legs. so that despite his girth the impression one gained from a look was of immense, bull-like strength. A neck. gnarled and muscular, rose between massive shoulders and poised head that was matched with brown, curly hair and bounded on the front by a great square, sleepy face. There was no leer to the round. blue, twinkling eye of Tank. no compromise to the nose, and his mouth ran straight across his face. stopping on either side only when the limits of possibility had been reached, so that when he smiled his very heart seemed to open; and when he frowned-well, when anger possessed him, or rude de- termination, there was no mouth at all, only scar-like seam that passed across two inches above a bulging chin that in its grim. bulldog-like grip of purpose annexed and made tributary the entire facial landscape from the sleepy eyes down. But just then, by the way. the eyes would not be sleepy Instead, under knotted auburn bTows two blue lights burned fiercely. and that, as to optics. would be all.
 Johnnie Orear, fawning fox. had been detected in treachery to the hand he cringingly licked. and had been de- spoiled of his place and driven out of the office the day before with terrible oaths "Reminiscences had been awak- ened in Tanks mind this morning by a flood of applicants for Orear's job in the assessors office where he had been chief deputy, and the boss as he men, tally thumbed the pages of his political memory had delivered himself thus en- phatically as to the kind of men he considered eligible for positions of pub lie trust.
 And so that's why ye won't give me Orear's job. I'm askin' for" peppered little red-headed Halloran, jumping up from the chair in which he had been sitting and leaning across the desk. That's why ye won't?" He shook his fiery copse menacingly low over the desk. his eyes closed in sheer stubborn ness.
 The other two or three henchmen sit ting around in the boss's office in an atmosphere heavy with smoke and the perfumes of stale beer. seemed sur prised. And yet. it was like Halloran. this impatient, impertinent speech of his. A scrappy child was Halloran. and all-leaky about the mouth when his spirits were hectored.
 The boss looked at him stolidly. steadily. closing his eyes laZily once or twice. but withal weighing shrewdly. good-naturedly. as the lord of the jungle can afford to be good-natured, the fiery soul of the little man before him, whose honest loyalty was unques- tionable despite his temper.
 You can have the job" Tank said finally, for your damned impudence."
 Reddy Halloran gasped and look of amazement so funny came upon his face, that all three of the other re- tainers of Tank burst into roars of laughter Laughter was beneath the dignity of the boss just now. but there was the suggestion of twinkle in his eye as he arose and with sweeping gesture ordered of them all:
 And now get t hell out of here. Don't you hear the drums?"
 Sure enough the sound of drum taps reached their ears This was the day of Tanks picnic to the Irish of the wards" as he affectionately denomi- hated his stronghold, and the measured pulsings of music marked the progress of the Third Regiment band which was the Celtic clans. They had | just come to a halt under Tanks win dow and set up The Wearing O the | Green"
 But as Tank spoke figure slouched | the doorway and stood erect | before the group-a tall. rangy kind of | man. immediately recognizable by all | as Tom Magee, better known as Long | shore Tom" walking delegate of the | Longshoremen's Union, and a growing | power in water front politics.
 No finesse about Tom. Tn some re- spects a dull and stupid sort of fellow. | with a bullet-like head on his lank | shoulders. He gave the impression of | one who thought but rarely and then in solid chunks, some indigestible idea or other, and when he spoke 1t was in | slow monosyllabic utterance.
 "'Llo. Dan," he said, seeing the boss 
 "'Llo, Tom" responded Tank, mak- ing feint of turning to the desk for just because he had habit of not liking people to get too near his person. If there were any approaching ha rroFarraI to 1n