"Thanks for the parallel. I don't like it. But never mind that. The question is, What am I going to do?"
"That's the question all right. Are you putting it to me?"
"I am."
"Well, I was just going to put it to you."
"No use. I don't know."
The two men looked each other in the eye, long and steadily. Ellis's harsh face relaxed to a sort of grin.
"You want me to tell you?"
"Yes."
"What do you think you're hiring, a Professor of Journalism in the infant class?" The tone of the question offset any apparent ill-nature in the wording.
"It might be made worth your while."