If some day it came about that they didn't get on so well,--if Bassett tried to drop him as they say he has sometimes dropped men when he didn't have any more use for them,--then Thatcher's sporting blood might assert itself.

I should be sorry for Bassett if that time came." "Edward Thatcher knows a horse," interposed Mrs.Owen.

"I like Edward Thatcher." "I've fished with Bassett," said the minister.

"A good fisherman ought to make a good politician; there's a lot, I guess, in knowing just how to bait the hook, or where to drop the fly, and how to play your fish.
And Bassett is a man of surprising tastes.

He's a book collector,--rare editions and fine bindings and that sort of thing." "Is it possible! The newspapers that abuse him never mention those things, of course," said Mrs.Martin.
A brief restraint fell upon the company, as they realized suddenly that they were discussing the husband of their hostess's niece, whom the opposition press declared to be the most vicious character that had ever appeared in the public life of the state.