The Mayor clenched his right fist tightly. The ten-thousand-dollar treasury note lay crumpled within.
"Sir," said H. R. to him, with real dignity, "you have my word that the word is in the dictionary."
The Mayor, naturally thinking of political consequences, spoke, "Of course, Mr. Rutgers, I expect you to prove it."
"Sir, I shall see to it that you are re-elected!" H. R. said this so positively that his Honor blushed guiltily. "I am not stupid enough to endeavor to perpetrate so transparent a fraud as this young man charges me with. But it would be even greater stupidity to be unfair to honest guessers by telling Mr. Lubin or anybody else what the word is. It is of five letters and begins with an 'A' and it is in the dictionary. But I will tell you, your Honor, and you, Mr. Lubin, what I will do. I shall ask the question and give the answer to a man who will say whether it is a fair question and whether the word is a fair answer. His decision will be final. He will not, I am sure, send for the ten thousand dollars after he hears the answer."
The Mayor shook his head dubiously.
"Who is the man?"
Mr. Lubin, being young, went much further.
"There is no man in New York whose word—"
"Silence, sir! I know the man. If he says that the word answers the question, everybody in New York will be convinced—Socialists, Democrats, Republicans, Progressives, Suffragists, newspaper editors, and all."
"There can't be such a man," said Lubin, decisively.