And yet day by day, word by word, hint by hint--his eye on the future
loyalty of the Everett faction at the polls--he made the candidate
understand that Arba Spinney was a man to be reckoned with--that the
convention was not an open-and-shut certainty for the machine. Without
realizing how it had come about, Everett found himself discussing
"political exigencies." Without knowing that he had been selected as a
martyr for his party, he committed himself in lofty sentiments regarding
the duty of a man in a crisis. Not that he suspected that his chances
were endangered. He felt that he was truly the man of destiny; he was
urging other men to forget their slights and their disappointments and
rally to him. But the fact remained that--thinking wholly of other
men--he had committed himself, and in a way that he could be reminded of
when the time came.
The Duke planted that kedge well out, to serve in the stress of weather
at the polls in the fall, should Everett and his men be silly enough to
confound "party exigency" with treachery.
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