"It doesn't appear to have any lettering—"
"It don't have to have any. That's an American Red Cross button."
"So it is,—so it is," cried the other hastily. "How stupid of me."
"And this one on the other lapel is a Liberty Loan button,—one hundred dollars is what it represents, if anybody should ast you."
"I recognized it at once, sir. I have one of my own." He raised his hand to his own lapel. "Why, hang it all, I forgot to remove it from my other coat this morning."
"Well," said Anderson drily, "there 'pears to be some advantage in havin' only one coat."
"Mr. Marshal," cut in the larger man brusquely, "we came to see you in regard to a matter of great importance—and, I may add, privacy. Having heard of your reputation for cleverness and infallibility—"
"As everybody in the land has heard," put in the other.
"—we desire your co-operation in an undertaking of considerable magnitude. Quite frankly, I do not see how we can succeed without your valuable assistance. You—"
"Hold on! If you're tryin' to get me to subscribe to a set of books, so's my name at the head of the list will drag other suckers into—"