Peter now invaded their districts, and talked against them in saloons and elsewhere.

It very quickly stirred up hard feeling, which resulted in attempts to down him.

But Peter's blood warmed up as the fight thickened, and hisses, eggs, or actual attempts to injure him physically did not deter him.

The big leaders were appealed to to call him off, but Costell declined to interfere.
"He wouldn't stop anyway," he told Green, "so we should do no good.

Let them fight it out by themselves." Both of which sentences showed that Mr.Costell understood his business.
Peter had challenged his opponents to a joint debate, and when that was declined by them, he hired halls for evenings and spoke on the subject.
He argued well, with much more feeling than he had shown since his speech in "the case." After the first attempt of this kind, he had no difficulty in filling his halls.