"Suppose you tell me about this man you have for me? What kind of a looking man is he?"
Uncle Ramsey screwed up his eyes, looked to the middle distance where the subject ought to be, and examined him critically.
"Has—ah—he—ah—personality? Personality is a great factor in success you know."
Tennelly, in the brief space allowed him, declared that his friend would pass this test.
"Well—ah! And can he—ah!—can he lead men? Because that is a very important point. The man I want must be a leader."
"I think he is."
"Um—ah! And does he—?" on down through a long list of questions.
At last, after once more relighting his cigar, which had gone out frequently during the conversation, he turned to his nephew and fixed him sharply with a fat pale-blue eye.
"Tell me the worst you know about him, Thomas! What are his faults?" he snapped, and settled back to squint at his imaginary stage again.
"Why—I—Why, I don't think he has any," declared Tennelly, shifting uneasily in his chair. He had a feeling that Uncle Ramsey would get it out of him yet. And he did.