niches in the "Courier's" pantheon. After his visit to Fraserville,
he had met Bassett occasionally in the street or at the Whitcomb House;
and several times he had caught a glimpse of him passing through the
reception room of the law office into Mr. Fitch's private room. On these
occasions Dan was aware that Bassett's presence caused a ripple of
interest to run through the office. The students in the library
generally turned from their books to speak of Bassett in low tones; and
Mr. Wright, coming in from a journey on one of these occasions and
anxious to see his partner forthwith, lifted his brow and said "Oh!"
meaningfully when told that it was Morton Bassett who engaged the time
of the junior member. Bassett's name did not appear in the office
records to Dan's knowledge nor was he engaged in litigation. His
conferences were always with Fitch alone, and they were sometimes of
length.

Harwood was not without his perplexities these days. His work for the
"Courier" had gradually increased until he found that his time for study
had diminished almost to the vanishing point. The home acres continued
unprofitable, and he had, since leaving college, devoted a considerable
part of his earnings to the relief of his father. His father's lack of
success was an old story and the home-keeping sons were deficient in
initiative and energy. Dan, with his ampler outlook, grudged them
nothing, but the home needs were to be reckoned with in the disposition
of his own time. He had now a regular assignment to the county courts
and received a salary from the "Courier." He was usually so tired at the
end of his day's work that he found it difficult to settle down to study
at night in the deserted law office. The constant variety and excitement
of newspaper work militated against the sober pondering of legal
principles and Dan had begun to realize that, with the necessity for
earning money hanging over him, his way to the bar, or to a practice if
he should qualify himself, lay long and bleak before him.

Dan had heard much of Morton Bassett since his visit to Fraserville. His
conviction, dating from the Fraserville visit, that Bassett was a man of
unusual character, destined to go far in any direction in which he chose
to exert his energies, was proved by Bassett's growing prominence. A
session of the legislature had intervened, and the opposition press had
hammered Bassett hard. The Democratic minority under Bassett's
leadership had wiel