"My round doesn't take long nowadays. Maggs will give me fifteen pounds for the pony: you know we don't want him now."
"No, Jim, and we do want fifteen pounds."
"The _Chronicle_, dear. There's--a letter from Mr. Bannister."
"Is there? Good! Let's see what Bannister has to say to these bigoted idiots."
He opened the paper, and in the middle of the front page read:
SIR: I desire to state that the use made by Mr. James Roberts of my poem in your last issue was without my authority or approbation. The poem was written some years ago, and must not be assumed to represent my present view on the subject of which it treats. I am, sir, your obedient servant, DALE BANNISTER.
"Bannister--Dale Bannister wrote that!" and he flung the paper angrily on the floor. "Give me my hat."
"Yes, I am, Ethel. I'm going to find out what this means."
"Hadn't you better wait till you're less----"
"Till the rain stops, Jim, dear; and it's just baby's time for coming down."
"Hang--no, I beg your pardon, Ethel. I'm very sorry, but I must see the end of this."
He rushed out, and the baby found a dull, preoccupied, almost tearful, very unamusing mother to play with that day.
The Doctor marched into Dale's room with a stern look on his face.
"Well, Roberts, how are you?" asked Dale, not graciously.
"It means, my dear fellow, that you took my name in vain, and I had to say so."
"I'm not thinking of myself, though it would have been more friendly to write to me first."
"Well, I was riled, and didn't think of that."
"But do you mean to deny your own words?"
"Really, Roberts, you seem to forget that I don't enjoy setting the place by the ears, although you seem to."
"Of course I wrote the damned thing," said Dale peevishly.
"And now--Bannister, you're not going to--to throw us over?"
"Nonsense! I like to publish my views at my own time and place, that's all."
"A man like you belongs to his followers as much as to himself."
The Doctor looked at him almost scornfully. Dale did not like scorn from anyone.
"I was particularly anxious," he began apologetically, "not to get into a shindy here. I wanted to drop politics and so on, and be friendly----"
"Do you know what you're saying, or the meanness of it?"
"You know very well. All I want to know is if you wrote this thing?"