"It's come at last! Skinner's asked for a raise"
He turned to note the effect of his words.
"What?" said the junior, taken by surprise, then hastening to suppress any suggestion of emotion. "That great, big, long-eared, over-grown rabbit? Did he dare come in here and beard the hound in his kennel?"
"He did that same," said McLaughlin, who had never quite lost his California vernacular.
"That hair of yours did n't scare him?"
McLaughlin grinned. "I guess it's lost its power." He got up and looked in the mirror over the mantel. "It is fierce, ain't it? I think I'll let it grow."
"Don't, Mac. It's your best asset as a bluffer." He shrugged his shoulders languidly. "You'd look like a philanthropist. They'd all be asking for a raise!"
"Wonder why he asked just now? He does n't know about that new contract with the Hudson & Erie people, does he?"
"Even if he did, he would n't dare to hold you up on it."