About two o'clock
Cajoling , ordering , opening bottles aside and treating , volubly greeting everybody in his strong voice all day , he seemed to have raised supporters for his party of whom no one would have dreamt except Zotique ; but the little closet up in the attic satisfied the requirements of strict logic . Haviland had added the fatigues of the last night to weeks of wearing labor , with consequences at length upon his fund of spirits , and also plainly on his face . He felt , like Grandmoulin , that his battle was principally with De la Lande in the back of the county , cheering up his ranks . About two o'clock Zotique drove over to Miséricorde alone . He did not return for an hour and a half , and when he did , his expression had altered to one of decided triumph , though still mysterious and silent Zotique , in fact , the evening before , when he drove to Miséricorde in Josephte 's little gig , found what he had suspected to be the truth , that Benoit and Spoon had bought every vote of the hamlet ; and paid for them , in the interest of Libergent ; but he still believed it possible , -- Benoit being incapacitated , and Spoon , he felt sure , not likely to turn up -- to bend this plastic material the other way with the same tool , and casting , therefore , aside all delicate distinctions , he succeeded , by a reasonable hour in the evening , in obtaining once more the adhesion of the _ hotellier _ and most of the population , giving -- for he had no Government funds like his opponents -- his own personal notes for the amounts , and enjoining on the tavern-keeper to have the whole of the suffrages polled early . This was all he could do , as it was impossible for him to be present on the morrow , or to delegate any other person of Haviland 's circle . His remaining anxiety was removed , when , on driving over , his investigations proved that the arrangement had been fully completed .