Bassett, in keeping with his forecast to Harwood, had made a point of
having many new men, whose faces were unfamiliar in state conventions,
chosen at the primaries he controlled, so that in a superficial view of
the convention the complexion of a considerable body of the delegates
was neutral. Here and there among the delegations sat men who knew
precisely Bassett's plans and wishes. The day following the primaries,
Bassett, closeted with Harwood in his room at the Boordman Building, had
run the point of a walking-stick across every county in the state,
reciting from memory just how many delegates he absolutely controlled,
those he could get easily if he should by any chance need them, and the
number of undoubted Thatcher men there were to reckon with. In Dan's own
mingling with the crowd at the Whitcomb the night before the convention
he had learned nothing to shake his faith in Bassett's calculations.
The Honorable Isaac Pettit, of Fraser, was one of the most noteworthy
figures on the floor. Had he not thrown off the Bassett yoke and
trampled the lord of Fraser County underfoot? Did not the opposition
press applaud the editor for so courageously wresting from the
despicable chieftain the control of a county long inured to slavery?
Verily, the Honorable Isaac had done much to encourage belief in the
guileless that such were the facts.
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