“You’ve said either too little or too much.”
“I can clear this up, I think,” proffered the elderly first-nighter, in his courteous voice. “Mr. Gurney is perhaps more the writer than the critic. He is carried away by the felicitous phrase.”
“He’d rather be funny than fair,” said Miss Raleigh bluntly.
“The curse of dramatic criticism,” murmured a magazine representative.
“Rotten,” said Bezdek doggedly. “Crooked. Tryin’ to be funny at other folks’ expense. I’ll give his tail a twist!” By which he meant Mr. Gurney’s printed words.
“Apropos of the high cult of honesty,” remarked Banneker.
“The curse of all journalism,” put in Laurence. “The temptation to be effective at the expense of honesty.”
“And what do you think of that?” inquired the cheerful Marrineal, still directing his query to Banneker.
“I think it’s rather a large order. Why do you keep asking my opinion?”
“Because I suspect that you still bring a fresh mind to bear on these matters.”