Had Ives himself come to Banneker with any such project, it would have
been curtly rejected. Ives kept in the background. The proposal came
from Marrineal, and in such form that for the recipient of the honor to
refuse it would have appeared impossibly churlish. Little though he
desired or liked such a function, Banneker accepted with a good grace,
and set himself to write an editorial, special to the event. Its title
was, "What Does Your Newspaper Mean to You?" headed with the quotation
from the Areopagitica: and he compressed into a single column all his
dreams and idealities of what a newspaper might be and mean to the
public which it sincerely served. Specially typed and embossed, it was
arranged as the dinner souvenir.
As the day drew near, Banneker had less and less taste for the ovation.
Forebodings had laid hold on his mind. Enderby had been back for five
days, and had taken no part whatever in the current political activity.
Conflicting rumors were in the air. The anti-Marrineal group was
obviously in a state of confusion and doubt: Marrineal's friends were
excited, uncertain, expectant.
For three days Banneker had had no letter from Io.
The first intimation of what had actually occurred came to him just
before he left the office to dress for the dinner in his honor.
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