It was so easy for his imaginative mind to reach out and take the thought from the preacher's mouth almost before he uttered it.

Thus, there was never any suspense, and suspense in sermons, as in books and plays, is the only thing that holds captive our interest.
So he stayed at home and read the Sunday papers.

That part not devoted to society and foreign news was given up wholly to local politics.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties were in bad odor.

In the Common Council they were giving away street-railway franchises; gambling-dens flourished undisturbed, and saloons closed only when some member of the saloon-keeper's family died.

The anti-gambling league had succeeded in suppressing the slot machines for a fortnight; this was the only triumph virtue could mark down for herself.