"Thank you! Thank you!" the dainty voice murmured with so marked a resemblance to a woman's tones that Norton was torn between two impulses—one to lift his eyebrows and sigh, "Oh, splash!" and the other to kick him down the stairs. He was in no mood for the amenities of polite conversation, turned and asked bluntly:
"May I inquire, professor, why you have honored me with this unexpected call—I confess I am very curious?"
"No doubt, no doubt," he replied glibly. "You have certainly not minced matters in your personal references to me in the paper of late, Major Norton, but I have simply taken it good-naturedly as a part of your day's work. Apparently we represent two irreconcilable ideals of Southern society——"
"There can be no doubt about that," Norton interrupted grimly.
"Yet I have dared to hope that our differences are only apparent and that we might come to a better understanding."
He paused, simpered and smiled.
"About what?" the editor asked with a frown.
"About the best policy for the leaders of public opinion to pursue to more rapidly advance the interests of the South——"
"And by 'interests of the South' you mean?"
"The best interest of all the people without regard to race or color!"