You are doubtless quite right. As for any intrusion, I assure you there
will be none."
Banneker nodded, and with that nod dismissed the subject quite as
effectually as Mr. Horace Vanney himself could have done. "Did you
attend all the injured?" he asked.
"All the serious ones, I think."
"Was there a young girl among them, dark and good-looking, whose name
began--"
"The one my addle-brained young nephew has been pestering me about? Miss
I. O. W.?"
"Yes. He reported her to me."
"I handled no such case that I recall. Now, as to your own helpfulness,
I wish to make clear that I appreciate it."
Mr. Vanney launched into a flowery tribute of the after-dinner variety,
leaning forward to rest a hand upon Banneker's desk as he spoke. When
the speech was over and the hand withdrawn, something remained among the
strewn papers. Banneker regarded it with interest. It showed a blotch of
yellow upon green and a capital C. Picking it up, he looked from it to
its giver.
"A little tribute," said that gentleman: "a slight recognition of your
services." His manner suggested that hundred-dollar bills were
inconsiderable trifles, hardly requiring the acknowledgment of thanks.
In this case the bill did not secure such acknowledgment.
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