"Well, then," said he, "I wanted to ask you what are your impressions of America?"
"Excuse me," I exclaimed; "I have only been in it three hours, and those three hours have been spent in this hotel. You must really allow me to abstain for the moment from telling you what I think of America; for you will admit, I hope, that one must have passed a whole day at least in America, in order to judge it with any accuracy."
Here I rolled a cigarette, and rang for a lemon squash.
The reporters immediately made an entry in their note-books.
"What is that you have put down?" I asked.
A young fellow, with a face beaming with activity and intelligence, replied:
"I wrote that at this point of our conversation you rolled a cigarette, and rang for a lemon squash."
"Really, gentlemen," I ventured to observe, "do you imagine that such a remark as that can possess the slightest interest for your readers?"
"Without doubt," they replied, and all their faces wore an imperturbable seriousness that nearly made me roar with laughter.
"Oh, in that case excuse me; I ought to have known that in America, as elsewhere, an intelligent man knows his business. Go on with your questions; you interest me greatly."