"Yes, in a way," he drawled. "Oh, I know him."
"Then, Sir, you know one of the most generous of men."
"Yes, generous in a way. Pretty keen, though—he's not throwing anything over his shoulder this year, and he didn't last year either, for that matter."
"I didn't know," said I, "that throwing a thing over one's shoulder was esteemed as an example of generosity."
He rolled his cigar about between his fiery lips. "I take it that you know what I mean," he replied. "I mean that Brother Giles ain't giving anything away without cause."
"Who is?" I asked, and I looked at him hard, but, in the vernacular of the neighborhood, I did not "faze" him.
"In general, nobody; and in particular, not Brother Giles. Well, it's all right. Glad he ain't interested financially. Presume, however, he advanced you the necessary money."
"Pardon me, but if he did it doesn't concern you."
"Oh, it's all right; no business of mine except as a matter of news."
"But what doesn't concern the public is not news," I replied.