“It’s a beastly hot day, but it must be done—eh, what?
‘So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man.
When duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can.’
I’m the noble youth, don’t y’ know. And you’re the voice of duty—though you didn’t exactly whisper, did you? . . . Was aber ist deine Pflicht? And Goethe answered: Die Forderung des Tages. But—deuce take it!—I wish the demand had come on a cooler day.”
He handed Markham his hat.
“Come, Postume. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.[17] You are through with the office for to-day,—inform Swacker of the fact, will you?—there’s a dear! We attend upon a lady—Miss St. Clair, no less.”
Markham realized that Vance’s jesting manner was only the masquerade of a very serious purpose. Also, he knew that Vance would tell him what he knew or suspected only in his own way, and that, no matter how circuitous and unreasonable that way might appear, Vance had excellent reasons for following it. Furthermore, since the unmasking of Captain Leacock’s purely fictitious confession, he was in a state of mind to follow any suggestion that held the faintest hope of getting at the truth. He therefore rang at once for Swacker, and informed him he was quitting the office for the day.
In ten minutes we were in the subway on our way to 94 Riverside Drive.
CHAPTER XX.
A Lady Explains
(Wednesday, June 19; 4.30 p.m.)
“The quest for enlightenment upon which we are now embarked,” said Vance, as we rode up town, “may prove a bit tedious. But you must exert your will-power, and bear with me. You can’t imagine what a ticklish task I have on my hands. And it’s not a pleasant one either. I’m a bit too young to be sentimental, and yet, d’ ye know, I’m half inclined to let your culprit go.”