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.

Even the "Courier" proved its sturdy independence by printing the result of the primary without extenuation or aught set down in malice.