"I will," said Willard. He got up and did.
The Honorable Brett Harkins looked uncomfortable. He didn't really know what it was all about. Moreover, it had been intimated to him that he'd perhaps better not know. He cast an appealing glance at Douglas.
"That is not exactly the question before the meeting," began Douglas hastily.
"It is the question I asked," persisted Willard. "Before we elect Dr. Surtaine or any one else chairman of a committee with a fund to spend, I want to know what the committee is for."
"To cope with the health situation of the city."
"Very well. Now we're getting somewhere. Where's Dr. Merritt? I think we ought to hear from him on that point."
Murmurs of assent were heard about the room. Dr. Surtaine rose to his feet.
"If I may be pardoned for speaking to a motion of which I am a part," he said in his profound and mellow voice.
"I think I can throw light upon the situation. Quite a number of us have observed with uneasiness the increase of sickness in Worthington. Sensationalists have gone so far as to whisper that there is an epidemic. I have myself made a rigid investigation. More than this, my son, Mr. Harrington Surtaine, has placed the resources of the 'Clarion' staff at our disposal, and on the strength of both inquiries, I am prepared to assure this gathering that nothing like an epidemic exists."
"Well, I am damned!" was McGuire Ellis's astounded and none too low-voiced comment upon this bold perversion of the "Clarion" enterprise. Stretching upward from his seat he looked about for Hal. The young editor sat in a far corner, his regard somberly intent upon the speaker.