"I negotiated a loan, my boy."
"That is interesting. Would the party accommodate me, do you think?"
"Depends upon your invention, my boy. I told him a plausible story, and did him a favor."
"Explain."
"He was looking for a position, and I gave him a letter of introduction to H. B. Claflin."
The friend burst into a fit of laughter.
"I admire your cheek," he said. "What do you know of Claflin?"
"I told him that Claflin and I went to school together."
"A lie, of course?"
"Yes; I never set eyes on the man in my life."