'Please sit down,' he said, 'and I'll see what I can do.'
As a result of his efforts, Selwyn received a summons to go right in—which he did, going past a number of people who had various big propositions to put before the big man when they could gain his ear.
'Good-morning, Mr. Selwyn,' said the president, a smartly dressed Jew, with a shrewd face and an unquestionable dignity of manner. 'You have returned to America, I see.'
'Yes, Mr. Benjamin. Do you mind if I come right down to business?'
'Mind? How else could I have built up the United Manufacturing
Corporation? Have a cigar?'
'No, thanks. Mr. Benjamin, you wrote my agent that you wanted me to lecture on the fallacy of war.'
'Sure,' said the president.
'May I ask why?'
Mr. Benjamin removed his spectacles and wiped them carefully. Putting them on, he surveyed his visitor through them. After that he took them off again, and winked confidentially. 'Mr. Selwyn,' he chuckled, 'you ain't a child, and I see that I can't put over any sob stuff with you. I told your agent I would pay him real money for you to lecture. Well, take it from me, when the president of the United Manufacturing Corporation pays out any of his greenbacks he don't expect nothing for something, eh?'
'I don't understand you—yet,' said Selwyn quietly.