"Yes, and he referred me to Gantry."
"And what did Mr. Gantry say?"
"I couldn't get him to say anything with any sense in it," said the lumber magnate grittingly. "The most I could get out of him was that I would have to see the boss."
"And instead of doing that you went to see the senator?" she asked.
"Of course I did. Who else would Gantry mean by 'the boss'?" demanded the befogged one.
"Possibly he meant the senator's son," she ventured, tapping a pretty cheek with the folded fan. "Have you been leaving Evan Blount out in all of this?"
"I didn't know where to put him in. That's what brings me here to-night. The senator, or McVickar, or both of them together, have set the whole State to running around in circles with this appointment of young Blount. Some say it's a deal between the senator and McVickar, and some say it's a fight. Half of the professional spellbinders are walking in their sleep over it right now. I thought maybe you could tell me, Mrs. Blount."
"I can't tell you anything that would help the people who are walking in their sleep," she returned, "but I might offer a suggestion in your personal affair. Mr. Evan Blount is your man."
Hathaway pursed his thin lips and frowned. "I'm in bad there—right at the jump," he objected.