“Well, I’ve got to deal with it.”
“You mean you’re going to deny it in the papers?”
“Exactly.”
“I wouldn’t, Rockwell.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No. You never can really overtake a newspaper lie. Lots of the people who read the lie don’t see the denial. Your truth doesn’t overtake the lie—it’s a scarlet runner.”
“I don’t see that. When you’re lied about, when a lie like that—”
“You can’t overtake it, Boss. It’s no use. It’s sensational, it runs too fast. Truth’s slow-footed. When a newspaper tells a lie about you, don’t try to overtake it, tell another.”
He blinked with quizzical good-humour. Rockwell could not resist the audacity. “I don’t believe you’d do it just the same,” he retorted decisively, and laughing.
“I don’t try the overtaking anyhow; I get something spectacular in my own favour to counteract the newspaper lie.”