"On the contrary, it was a calm, warm night in May. It is certainly strange that they should not have been able to save him. That ought to prove beyond question that he sank at once."
"There is no doubt about that, I should think," replied the reporter without much conviction. "I won't detain you any longer, Mr. Brett. The report shall be denied at once. Will you allow me to use your name as authority for these details?"
"Everybody knows the story."
"Pardon me. Our paper has a very large circulation in the West, and a well-known name like yours lends great weight to any statement."
"I did not know that my name was so particularly well known," observed Brett.
"Why, certainly, Mr. Brett. Your yacht won a race last year. I remember it very well."
"That might be a claim to distinction, but I never had a yacht."
"Not fond of the sea, Mr. Brett?"
"Oh, yes, I like it well enough," said Brett, rising, as though he wished it understood that the interview was at an end. "You will distinctly deny this report, will you not?"
"You can rely upon me to say just what you have said to me, Mr. Brett."