“No trouble to show goods,” Banneker said, unclasping the suitcase. He preferred to keep the talk in light tone until his time came. From the case he extracted two close-packed piles of news-print, folded in half.
“Coals to Newcastle,” smiled Marrineal. “These seem to be copies of The Patriot.”
“Not exact copies. Try this one.” Selecting an issue at random he passed it to the other.
Marrineal went into it carefully, turning from the front page to the inside, and again farther in the interior, without comment. Nor did he speak at once when he came to the editorial page. But he glanced up at Banneker before settling down to read.
“Very interesting,” he said presently, in a non-committal manner. “Have you more?”
Silently Banneker transferred to the table-top the remainder of the suitcase’s contents. Choosing half a dozen at random, Marrineal turned each inside out and studied the editorial columns. His expression did not in any degree alter.
“You have had these editorials set up in type to suit yourself, I take it,” he observed after twenty minutes of perusal; “and have pasted them into the paper.”
“Exactly.”
“Why the double-column measure?”
“More attractive to the eye. It stands out.”