"Am I? I didn't know," Hamilton replied. "I had wanted to go, but not hearing anything about it, I was afraid the plan had been shelved."
"The Director told me this morning that you were going to be transferred."
"The Director himself?"
"Yes. I had a talk with him about the figures for the manufactures of the New England States, and we happened to mention you; he knew your name, so I told him that your schedules had averaged six and a third per cent better than those of any one else in that section. So he said, 'That reminds me, I had almost forgotten that I had decided to put Noble on the population work. I'll see that arrangements for that transfer are made,' and he scribbled something on a pad."
"That was awfully kind of you, Mr. Burns," said Hamilton, "to mention me to the Director in that way."
The statistician looked at him curiously.
"I wasn't dealing in kindness," he said dryly, "I was dealing in percentages. If that turned out well for you, it is yourself you have to thank, not me. I merely stated the figures, and they read in your favor."
The boy laughed outright.
"I believe, Mr. Burns," he said, "that you would more easily forgive a man who attacked you personally than one who gave you an incorrect list of figures."
"Certainly I would," the statistician replied. "I could hit back in the first case, but in the second who can tell how far I might be led astray!"