It was true, as Cowperwood said, that he was not in politics for his health.

The situation, as at present conditioned, was not inherently favorable for the brilliant programme he had originally mapped out for himself.
Tiernan, Kerrigan, and Edstrom were friendly as yet; but they were already making extravagant demands; and the reformers--those who had been led by the newspapers to believe that Cowperwood was a scoundrel and all his works vile--were demanding that a strictly moral programme be adhered to in all the doings of council, and that no jobs, contracts, or deals of any kind be entered into without the full knowledge of the newspapers and of the public.

Gilgan, even after the first post-election conference with his colleagues, had begun to feel that he was between the devil and the deep sea, but he was feeling his way, and not inclined to be in too much of a hurry.
"It's rather a flat proposition you're makin' me," he said softly, after a time, "askin' me to throw down me friends the moment I've won a victory for 'em.

It's not the way I've been used to playin' politics.
There may be a lot of truth in what you say.

Still, a man can't be jumpin' around like a cat in a bag.