The Ramrodders

At Fort Canibas, the aging political boss Thelismer Thornton, the "Duke of Fort Canibas," presides over his stronghold with the confidence of a man who has ruled too long to fear rebellion. Then Ivus Niles arrives with a reform crowd, a buck sheep in tow, and a mocking charge that the Thornton dynasty has led the people astray. What begins as comic spectacle hardens into open revolt, as farmer Walt Davis and others make clear that respect for Thornton's service no longer means consent to his family's inherited power. Shaken but defiant, Thornton learns from State Committee Chairman Luke Presson that money, outside influence, and organized reform are threatening to pry his district away. Inside "The Barracks," he tries to steady his followers and unveils General Waymouth as the party's candidate. Waymouth, however, refuses to be a figurehead. He rejects a hidden grab for water-power interests, demands concrete tax reform, and turns temperance into a test of honesty, insisting the party must enforce the law rather than exploit prohibition for votes. As old machine politics collides with principled reform, Thornton faces the collapse of the system he built. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.