mony required to show the town that he
was pleased with his matrimonial bargain, the handsome Judge was a busy
man. Every time he saw Dr. Nesbit toddling up or down Market Street, or
through South Harvey, or in the remotenesses of Foley or Magnus, the
Judge whipped up his energies. For he knew that the Doctor never lost a
fight through overconfidence. So the Judge, alone for the first time in
his career, set out to bring about his nomination, where a nomination
meant an election. Now a judge who showed the courage of his
convictions, as Judge Van Dorn had shown his courage in forcing
settlements in the mine accident cases and in similar matters of
occasional interest, was rather more immediately needed by the mine
owners of Harvey than the political boss, who merely used the mine
owner's money to encompass his own ends, and incidentally work out the
owner's salvation. Daniel Sands played both sides, which was all that
Van Dorn could ask. But when the Doctor saw that Sands was giving secret
aid to Van Dorn, the Doctor's heart was hot within him. And Van Dorn
continued to rove the district day and night, like a dog, hunting for
its buried bone.

It was in the courthouse that Van Dorn made his strongest alliance--in
the courthouse, where the Doctor was supposed to be in supreme command.
A capricious fate had arranged it so that nearly all the county officers
were running for their second terms, and a second term was a time
honored courtesy. Van Dorn tied himself up with them by maintaining that
his was a second term election also,--and a second regular four year
term it was. His appointment, and his election to fill out the remainder
of his predecessor's term, he waved aside as immaterial, and staged
himself as a candidate for his second term. The Doctor tried to break
the combination between the Judge and the second term county candidates
by ruthlessly bringing out their deputies against the second termers as
candidates. But the scheme provoked popular rebellion. The Doctor tried
bringing out one young lawyer after another against the Judge, but all
had retainers from the mine owners, and no one in the county would run
against Van Dorn, so the Doctor had to pick his candidate from outside
of the county, in a judicial convention wherein Greeley County had a
majority of the votes. But Van Dorn knew that for all the strategy of
the situation, the Doctor might be able to mass the town's disapproval
of Van Dorn, socially, into