He sat down in the inner office and Sniffens went out, presently to return with an elderly man. “This is Wilkinson—worked twenty-nine years—”
“Sorry. Won't do. Here, my man! Take this two-dollar bill for your trouble. Next!”
Much the same thing happened with the next four applicants. The fifth man, however, made Robison listen patiently while Sniffens finished his elaborately biographical introduction. The man's name was Thomas Gray; age fifty-eight; worked twelve years for General James Morris and fourteen for Stuyvesant R. Morris. Very careful. Excellent references. Morris family went abroad to live. Gray had not done anything for five years, but was willing and anxious to work.
Robison, who had been studying Gray keenly, said sharply, and not at all nasally:
“Height and weight?”
“Five foot eleven and a half inches; one hundred and seventy pounds, sir.”
“Deaf?”
“No, sir.”
“No?”
“No, sir; but I don't hear as well as I did.”