“Yes, I grant that.” A slight tremor in Mr. Gage’s voice told more than his words. “But it seems to me, if I may be allowed to say so——”
“Go on!” The words were impatient. “You know that in this room you can say anything.”
“Well, sir, I would like to say this: It seems to me that you of all men should keep off the grass.”
Mr. Gage did not underrate his own prescience, and he knew that Saul Hartz did not underrate it either. But as the editor of the Planet uttered these significant words, he had the look of a man who anticipates an explosion. In this, he was not disappointed. But the explosion, when it came, was less devastating than he had feared.
“Oh, be damned to that, Gage!” The Chief brought his fist down solidly upon the table at which he sat. “We don’t allow ourselves here to be intimidated by anything or anybody.”
“Quite!” The assent was a little uneasy. “But knowing what we do, knowing what is behind all this, is it altogether politic...?”
“Politic!”
“To take such risks—particularly when they are unnecessary.”
“We shall not agree that the risks are unnecessary. It’s our clear duty to keep the police—or why not say the Government?—up to the collar.”
The editor of the Planet cordially agreed, but in the choice of the words which followed he showed great care. “I do feel very strongly,” he said, “that faced as we are with two evils, it is our duty to choose the less. The police have asked us to walk delicately, and I really think we ought to do so.”