"Pardon me, Sir," I began, and he turned toward me with a slight bow and with a slow motion made with his hat, "but will you tell me who is the master of this house?"
"I am," he answered, with a smile.
"But who are you, your name, please?"
"Has no one told you? Hah, don't you know yet?" His voice conveyed a sense of injury that so important a preliminary had been overlooked.
"No one has told me."
"Then, Sir, I have the pleasure of introducing myself. I am Giles Talcom."
"Oh, Senator Talcom."
His eyes snapped, he touched his "dab" of beard, and said:
"At your service, Sir."
We shook hands, and he sat down. "I have heard of you, Senator."