“Stone’s in my office,” said Brown. “Wants to see you.”
Bobby was interestedly leafing over the pages of the Bulletin. He looked leisurely at his watch and yawned.
“Tell Mr. Stone that I am busy, but that I will receive him in fifteen minutes,” he directed, whereupon Mr. Brown, appreciating the joke, grinned still more expansively and withdrew.
Bobby, as calmly as he could, went on with his perusal of the Bulletin. To deny that he was somewhat tense over the coming interview would be foolish. Never had a quarter of an hour dragged so slowly, but he waited it out, with five minutes more on top of it, and then he telephoned to Brown to know if Stone was still there. He was relieved to find that he was.
“Tell him to come in,” he ordered.
If Stone was inwardly fuming when he entered the room he gave no indication of it. His heavy face bore only his habitually sullen expression, his heavy-lidded eyes bore only their usual somberness, his heavy brow had in it no crease other than those that time had graven there. With the deliberateness peculiar to him he planted his heavy body in a big arm-chair opposite to Bobby, without removing his hat.
“I don’t believe in beating around the bush, Mr. Burnit,” said he, with a glance over his shoulder to make sure that the door was closed. “Of course you’re after something. What do you want?”
Bobby looked at him in wonder. He had heard much of Stone’s bluntness, and now he was fascinated by it. Nevertheless, he did not forget his own viewpoint.
“Oh, I don’t want much,” he observed pleasantly, “only just your scalp; yours and the scalps of a few others who gave me my education, from Silas Trimmer up and down. I think one of the things that aggravated me most was the recent elevation of Trimmer to the chairmanship of your waterworks commission. Trivial as it was, this probably had as much to do with my sudden determination to wipe you out, as your having the Brightlight’s poles removed from Market Street.”
Stone laid a heavy hand easily upon Bobby’s desk. It was a strong hand, a big hand, brown and hairy, and from the third pudgy finger glowed a huge diamond.