“You did me an honor, Mr. Hennigar.”
“Oh no, not that,” he said. “It was really awfully well done. Accept my congratulations. Well, I hope you like it here, and all that. It’s not a bad place, you know. I needn’t express how glad we are to have you with us. That goes without saying, of course.”
He swung his left arm up in front of his face and glanced at his wrist watch.
“And now,” he said, backing slowly toward the door, “I have an engagement with a beastly dentist and know you’ll excuse me.”
With a very full, but evanescent exposure of his very white teeth he nodded his head and disappeared, slamming the door.
“The miserable little dog,” whispered Freda, her face flushed. “Just cur enough to fawn. He hates you, Mauney, like sin. He asked me this morning if I had read your book. I told him I had and that I considered it a young masterpiece. He didn’t like me to say that. He’s one of the poorest sports in Merlton. I’d just love to push my finger right into his eyes.”
“Freda!”
“You’re shocked! Well, I’ll bet you’ll feel the same way after you’ve been here a year or so. Sit down and rest your bones. Professor Freeman will be along soon.”
Before he could accept her invitation a heavy, energetic step was heard outside the office. The door opened and Dr. Alfred K. Tanner’s familiar form bustled in. He was, as usual, entirely occupied with his busy thoughts and proceeded straight to Freda’s desk without noticing Mauney.