Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

184 “No, make it half past four,” Craven ‘suggested quickly. “Any woman might easily be delayed fifteen minutes.” “And if she has not appeared by that time, we are to assume that the pleasure of her presence is to be denied us?” “Huh? I presume so,” Craven grunted. . “J’m quite as willing to make it five o’clock or half past five,” the president said. “ Four thirty’ll do!” said Craven. He sat back with his watch in his hand. Perhaps the rest of them would have. liked to do the same thing, but with Craven, the horrible example of a director, keeping tabs on the time, they refrained. Instead, Bennett started a nice little conversation about some of the finer points of Mr. Ber- ford’s annual report to the directors and the others joined in readily. The boss himself smoked and grinned contentedly. And the minutes jogged along and there was nothing to be seen by the eye I kept on the door. After what seemed a long, long while, Moreland yawned and said: “Must be more than half past now, isn’t it, Craven?” “Tt is twenty-eight minutes after!” “ Two more, eh? What were you saying, Mac?” Macpherson went on with what he had been saying and it took time. Mr. Craven, presently clicked together the case of his old-fashioned watch and, with a sigh, dropped it into his pocket; and Mr. Ben- nett cried: “Half past?” “Tt is twenty-five minutes to five.” “Hey? Five minutes past the limit, is it?” said the genial director, and treated us to that big laugh of his. “ Well, by George! I think you’re vindicated, Tom!” “ Thanks,” the president said briefly. “Tn all our minds?” “Ves!” said four old gentlemen, to- gether. Tn your mind, Craven? Hey? Speak up!” snapped Bennett. “Eh? Hum—lI suppose so!” Farther than that, apparently, he did not care to go. Mr. Bennett turned away quite disgustedly and looked fondly at our presi- dent. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. “ Now, Thomas, I think this absurd mat- ter is closed!” ES “And the meeting adjourned?” “Vest” The president leaned forward unsmil- ingly. ‘Well, before this gathering breaks up, may I be permitted a word or two of a purely personal nature?” ‘“‘ A thousand of them!” “All right. Gentlemen!” the boss said slowly. “I have been with this firm al- most since boyhood. It pleased you, some years back, to make me its president. In all the time that I have been connected with the company, you have had every ounce of everything that was in me. I have had hardly another thought, hardly another reason for existence, than service to this company. I’m not trying to pose as the perfect man-—far from that. But I do feel compelled to say that never in all my life, in this office or out of it, have I consciously lied or consciously done a wrong thing or—” “Why, we know that well enough!” Macpherson cried. “Yes, but you didn’t know it yesterday ~ and you didn’t know it until half past four to-day!” said Mr. Berford and, quiet as he was trying to be, his words dripped bit- terness. “ Yesterday, through the agency of some fool, a woman came in here and ac- cused me of—TI don’t know what and you don’t know what. And within five minutes of that time suspicion of myself was ex- tremely evident!” “Well, you see, Tom,” Mr. Jones began, “human nature’s what it is and not what it ought to be, and when that girl popped in so unexpectedly—’”’ “You immediately concluded that I was the man who had ruined her life, or some- thing of the kind. That’s just what I’m talking about. Gentlemen, if suspicion of my personal or my business character is really so near the surface as appears, it seems to me that the time has come to tender my resignation!” Three seconds, they stared at him. Then they began to boil! They surged out of their chairs, even to Craven, and came around to Mr. Berford, all talking and. pros