I was not surprised that he should be trying to rid himself of a distasteful responsibility. But the act of avoidance was in itself puerile. Suppose there was another leak. He could say that he had put the statement out of his keeping into mine; he could say he had not kept a copy; but could he expect anyone to believe he had erased them from his mind? It irritated me. I kept thinking about it that night. I concluded there was something I did not understand; and there was.
As I was opening my desk the next morning Galt came in and without a word or sign of salutation addressed me summarily.
“Harbinger says you have the earnings.”
“The weekly earnings?” I asked.
“The weekly earnings,” he repeated after me, trying to mimic my voice and manner. He would have been ridiculous except that he was angry, and anger was an emotion that seemed curiously to enlarge him. So here was the explanation of Harbinger’s behavior. He had expected Galt to ask him for the figures and he meant to be able to say that he didn’t have them.
We regarded each other steadily.
“Well?” I said.
“You apparently don’t know that I get them,” he said, his anger beginning to rise against me.
“No, I don’t know it,” I said. “Does Mr. Harbinger know?”