Indianapolis Times, Volume 35, Number 185, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 December 1922 — Page 8

8

A Hoosier Chronide By MEREDITH NICHOLSON First Novel in thè Times Series of Fiction Stories by Indiana Writers (Copyright, ISIS, by Meredith Nlcholaon.)

“They’ve sald of me that I flght In thè dark; that I’m a man of secret and ipallgn methods. The ‘Advertiser’ sald oniy this momlng 'that I have no courage; that I never make an attack where lt costa me anythlng. I’ve already proved that to be a Ile. My attack on Thatcher ls llkely to cost me a good deal. You may be aure he won’t scruple to make thè bill as heavy aa he can. I'm talklng to you freely, and I*ll say to you that I ex pect thè better element of thè party to rally to my support. You see, I’m golng to give you ldeallsts a chanceto do something that wlll count. Thatcher ls not a foe to be desplsed. Here's hls reply to my ‘Stop, Look, XJjs's n,’ editoria!. The sheriff served it on me Just as I stepped into thè eia vator to come up here.” The Harwood took wonderlngly was a wrlt citlng Bassett to appear as defendant in a suit brought In thè Circuit Court of Edward G. Thatcher against thè Courier Publlshlng Company, Morton Bassett, and Sarah Owen. Bassett stretched himself at ease In his chair and explalned. “I wanted a newspaper and he was Jr.dlfferent about it at thè time; but we went in together. and he consented that I should have a controlline Interest. As I was tled up tight tight then I had to get Mrs. Owen to help me out. It wasn’t thè klnd of deal you want to hawk about town, and nelther Thatcher nor I cared to have it known for a while that we had bought thè paper. But it’s bardly a secret now, of course. Mrs. Owen and I together own one hundred and fifty-one shares of tne total of three hundred; Thatcher owns thè rest and he was satisfied to let lt go that way. He signed an agreement that I should manage thè paper, and sald he didn’t want anythlng but dividends.” “Mrs. Owen’s Interest is subject to your wishes, of course: that goes without saylng.” “Well. I guaranteed 8 per cent on her Investment, but we’ve made lt lately, easily. Ive now gotto devise some meana of getting rld of Thatcher: but we ll let hlm cool till aster thè convention. Mrs. Owen won’t be back for several weeks, I suppose?’’ "Xo; she and Miss Garrison will return tmmediately aster thè commencement exercises." “Well, Thatcher brought that suit. thinking that if he could throw thè paper lato a receivershìp he’d run up thè prlce when lt carne to be so’d and shake me out. He knew, too. that lt would annoy Mrs. Owen to be lnvolved In litigatìon. It's surprising that he would lncur her wrath h!mself: she’s always been mighty decent to Ed and klnd to his boy. But 111 have to buy her stock and let her out: it's a delicate business, and for Mrs. Bassett's sake I’ve gotto get her aunt out as quickly as possible.” “That, of course, wlll be easlly managed. It’s too bad she’s away 3ust now.”

“It was thè fìrst tirne I ever a shed her help in any of my business affairs, and It's unfortunate. The fact !s that Mrs. Bassett doesn't know of lt.” He rose and crossed thè room s!owly with his hands thrust deep into his trousers pockets. "I told you. Dan, when you opened our office in thè Boordman building, that lf ever thè time carne when you difin’t want to serve me any 1 or. per you were to fee! free to quit. I had about decided to leave you out of my calculatlons tn politics; you have thè making of a pood lawyer and lf you opened an office tomorrow you wouid flnd clients wifhout trouble. You are heginning to be known, very -well known for a man of your years.” Harwood demurred feebly. unheeded bv Bassett, who continued steadiiy. "You have your ideala—fine Ideas of public Service that I admire. Our party needs such men as you; thè ycung fellows couldn’t get away from us fast enouph aster *96: tnany of thè sons of old-tlme Democrats joined thè Tiepubllcans. Pitch has spoken to me of you often as thè kind of men we ought to push forward, and I'm willlng to put you out on thè flringHne, tvhere you can work for your ideala. My help will handicap you at ffrst.” —his voice grew dry and hard bere. —"but once you have got a start you can shake me off as qulck as you like. It's a perfectly selfish proposition I’m making. Harwood; it simply gets down to this. that I need youi help.” “Of course, Mr. Bassett; lf I can serve you in any way—” “Anything you can do for me you m&y do if you don't feel that you will be debasing yourself tn firhting under my flag- It's a black flag. the7 say —just as black as Thatcher’s. I don't believe you want to Join Thatcher; thè question is, do you want to stick to me” Bassett had spoken quietly tbroughout. He had mede no effort to play upon Harwood’s sympathles or to appeal to his grati tude. He was. in common phrase, to be taken or let alone. Harwood realized that he must either decline outrigbt or declare his fealty In a word. It was in no view a debatable rnatter; he couid not suggest points of difference or even Influire as to thè nature of thè Service to be exacted. He re was his chance now to rld himself of Bassett; to breathe free air agaln! On thè other hand, Bassett had himself suggested that Harwood. once in a posltion to commatid attentlon, rrnght go his own eait. His servltude wouid be for a day only, and by lt he should wln eternai freedom. He caught eagerly at what Bas eett was saying. grateful that tne moment of his choice was delayed. “The State convention is only three weeks off and I had pretty carefully riapped it out before thè Courier dropped that shot across Thatcher’s bows. I’ve arranged for you to go as delegate to thè State convention from this countv and to have a place on thè committee on resoiutior.s. This Will give you an introduction to thè party that will be of value. They will say you are my man—but they’ve eald that of other men who have lived it down. I want Thatcher to have his wa4 In that convention, namlng thè aa far a js he pleaaes, and ap-

peartng to giva me a drubbing. The party’s golng to be defeated In November—there’s no dueking that. We’ll let Thatcher get thè odium of that defeat. About thè next time we’ll go in and win and there won't be any more Thatcher nonsenso. That is politica, you understand.” Harwood nodded, but Bassett had not fìnlshed; it clearly was not his purpose to stand thè young man In a corner and demand a cholce from him. Bassett pursued negotlations aster a fashion of his own . “Thatcher thinks he has scorni heavily on me by sneaking into Fraserville and kidnaping old Ike Pettit. That fellow has always been a nuisance to me; I carried a mortgago on his newspaper for ten years, but Thatcher has mercifully taken that burden off my shoulders by paying it Thatcher can print anvthing he wants to about me iri iny own town; but it wi!l cost hlm some money; those peonie up there don’t think I’m so wicked and thè Fraser County Democrat won't have any advertisements for a while but fake medicai ads. But Ike wlll have more room for thè exploitation of hls own peculiar brand of homely Hoosier humor.” Bassett’s smile showed his strong. sound teeth. He rarely laughed, but he ylelded now to thè contagion of tlie humor he had aroused In Harwood. “It's a big chance you're givlng me to get Into thlngs,” replied Harwood. "I’U do my best.” Then he added, ir thè glow of his complete surrender: “You’ve never asked me to do a dlshonorable thing in thè four years I’ve been wlth you. There’s nothing oughtn’t to be glad to do from any standpolnt, and I’m grateful for this new mark of your confidence ” “That's all right, Dan. There are thlngs In store for young men In poi Itlcs In this State—Republioans and Democrats.” sald Bassett. without eia tion or any show of feeling whatever. “Once thè limelight hits you, you can go far—very far. I must go over to thè Courier office now and see Atwill.” CHARTER XIX Marian had suggested to her mother that they vislt Mrs. Owen in town before settling at Waupegan for thè summer, and it was Marian's planning made this excursion synchronize with thè State convention. Mr. Bassett was not consulted In thè matter; in* fact, since his wife's return from Connecticut he had been unusually occupied, and almost constantly away from Fraserville. Mrs. Bassett and her daughter arrived at thè capitai thè day aster Mrs. Owen reached home from Wellesley with Sylvia, and thè Bassotte iistened perforce to thelr klnswoman's enthu-i astio account of thè commoncemont exercisee. Mrs. Owen had, !t ap pcared, looked upon Smith and Mount Holyoke also on this eastward flight, and these inspections, mentioned in thè most casual manner, did not contributo to Mrs. Bassett's happiness. Findlng that her father was inaccessible by telephone, Marian summoned Harwood and demanded tickets for thè convention; she would make an occasion of it, and Mrs. Owen and Sylvia should go with them. Mrs. Bassett's presence at thè convention did not pass unremarked by majiy gentlemen upon thè floor, or by thè newspapers. The following item appeared in thè Advertiser:

“While thè State chairman struggled to bring thè delegates to order. Mira Marian Bassett. daughter of thè Hon. Morton Bassett of Fraser County, was a charming and vivacioua ligure in thè balcony. At a moment when it eeemed that thè band wouid never cease from troubling thè air with thè strains of 'Dixie,’ Miss Bassett tossed a camatlon into thè Marion County delegation. The flower was dettiy caught by Mr. Daniel Harwood. who wore 1 in his butonhole throughout thè strenuo us events of thè day.” The experienco and sensation3 of a delegate to a large convention are qulte different from those of a reporter at thè press table, as Dan Harwood realized; and it must be confessed that he was keyed to a proper pitch of excitement by thè day’s prospects. In splte of Bassett’s promise that he need not trouble l • help elect himself a delegate, Harwood had been drawn sharply Into thè preliminary sklftnish at thè primaries. He had thought lt wise to cultivato #he acqualntance of thè men who ruled his own county even though his narr.e had been written large upon thè Bassett siate. In thè weeks that intervened between his lnterview with Haxwood in thè upper room of thè Whitcomb and thè primaries, Bassett had quietly visited every congressional district, holding conferencea and perfecting his plans. "Never before,” eaid thè Advertlser, “had Morton Bassett’s pernicious activity been so marked." The belief had grown that thè Senator from Fraser was In imminent perii; in thè Republican camp it was thought that whilo Thatcher might not control thè convention he wouid prove himself strong enough to shake thè faith of many of Bassett’s followera in thè power of their chief. There had been. apparently, a hot contest at thè primaries. In thè northern part of thè State, in a region long recognized rs Bassett’s stronghold, Thatch er had won easily; at thè capitai thè contestants had broken even, a result aitributable to Thatcher's residence in thè county. The word had passed among thè faithful that Thatcher money was plentiful, and that it was not only available in this preliminary skirmish, but that those who attached themselves to Thatcher early wore to enjoy his bounty throughout his campateli—which might be protracted—for thè senatorship. Bassett was not scattering ’argess; lt was whispered that thè money he had used previously in politics had come out of Thatcher's pocket and that he wouid have lesa to spend in future. Bassett, in keeping with his forecast to Harwood, had made a point of having many new men, whose faces were unfamiiiar in State conventions, chosen at thè primaries he controlled, so that in a superficial vlew of thè convention thè complexion of a considerable body of thè delegates was neutral. Here and there among thè delegationa eat men who knew precUeìy Bassett' plana

DOINGS OF THE DUFFS—

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and wishes. The day following thè primaries, Bassett, closeted witli Harwood in his room at thè Boordman Building, had run thè point of a walking-stick across every county in thè State, reciting from memory just how many delegates he absolutely controlled, those he couid get easily if he should by any chance need them, and thè number of undoubted Thatcher men there were to reckon

OUT OUE WAY—By WILLIAMS

THE OLD HOME TOWN—By STANLEY

with. In Dan’s own mingling with thè crowd at thè Whitcomb thè night before thè convention he had learned nothing to shake his faith in Bassett'a ealculations. The Honorable Isaac Pettlt, of Fraser, was one of thè most noteworthy on thè floor. Had he not thrown off thè Bassett yoke and trampled thè lord of Fraser County underfoot? id not thè opposition

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

press applaud thè editor for so courageously wrcsting from tlie despicable chleftain thè control of a county long inured to slavery? Verily, thè Honorable Isaac had dona much to encom-age belief in thè guileless that such were thè facts. Even thè “Courier” proved ita sturdy independence by printing thè result of thè primary without extenuation or eugbt *awo In nn

The Tables Are Tumed

Master This On Your Motor-Hom

FRECKLES AND HIS FRIENDS—By BLOSSER

In a statement printed in thè Courier, Bassett had acceptod defeat in a commendable spirit of resignation. He and Atwill had framed that statement a week before thè primaries, and Miss Rose Farrell had copied at least a dozen drafts before Bassett’s criticai sense was satisfied. Harwood was increasingly amused by thè manifestations of Bassett’a Ironie humor. “I have never yet,” ran thè statement,

OUR BOAEDING HOUSE—By AH.ERN

“placed my own am’oitiions before thè wishes of my party; and if. when thè Democrats of Fraser County meet to choose a candidate for Stato Senator, they are not disposed to renominate n\e for a seat which I have held for twelve years, I shall gladly resign to another and give my loyal support to thè candidate o£ their choice.” It was whispered that thè Honorable Isaac Pettlt wouid himself be a can-

DEO. 13, 1922

—By ALLMAN

—By AL POSEN

didate for thè nomination. The chattei mbrtgage rcrolis in thè office of thè recorder of Fraser County tndicated that his printing press no longer owed ullegianco to thè Honorable Mor ton Bassett. Thatcher had treated Fettit generously, taking his unse cured note for thè amount advanoed to cieanse thè Fraser County Damociat of thè taint of Bassettism. (To Be Continued)