Norton nodded.
"I don't understand it," said Langdon. "To think that he was that kind!"
Son Randolph now took his turn in the case against the secretary.
"We were both here, father. I heard him—Carolina heard him," he said.
"Didn't you, Carolina?"
"Yes," said the girl weakly, "I was here." Then she turned abruptly. "I must go," she said, "must go right away. Mrs. Holcomb is waiting for me."
The Senator turned to his desk bent and discouraged.
"I suppose I should have taken a secretary who was a Southerner and a gentleman. Well, Randolph, you'll have to act now. Take this letter—"
The young man sat down and took the following from the Senator's diction:
"MR. HAINES—
"Sir: I quite understand your feelings and the impossibility of your continuing in my employ. The least said about it the better. I am sorry, too.