"That'll be all right. Finish it. I must be off."
"Right you are!" said Dayson grandly. "I'll run down with it to the printer's myself--soon as it's copied."
Mr. Cannon nodded. "And tell him we've got to be on the railway bookstalls first thing to-morrow morning."
"He'll never do it."
"He must do it. I don't care if he works all night."
"But--"
"There hasn't got to be any 'buts,' Dayson. There's been a damned sight too much delay as it is."
"All right! All right!" Dayson placated him hastily.
Mr. Cannon departed.
It seemed to Hilda that she shivered, but whether with pain or pleasure she knew not. Never before had Mr. Cannon sworn in her presence. All day his manner had been peculiar, as though the strain of mysterious anxieties was changing his spirit. And now he was gone, and she had said naught to him about the telegram from Miss Gailey!