“What!” cried Thyrsis, alarmed.
“I won’t have it! He must not print that article!”
“But he’s accepted it!”
“I know. But he should have consulted me.”
“But—but I wrote it at his order. And he promised to pay me—”
“Oh, that’s all right,” said the old gentleman, with a genial smile. “We’ll pay for it, of course.”
There was a moment’s pause, while Thyrsis caught his breath.
“My boy,” continued the other, “that’s a terrible article!”
“Um,” said the author—“possibly.”
“Why do you write such things?”