"Marvellous," I murmured. "And how do you think of all your variations on the one stimulating theme?"
"Ah!" he said, "that is my secret." He tapped his massive forehead. "It wants a bit of doing, but I think I may say that up to date I have delivered the goods."
"You may," I said. "Have you no assistants?"
He flushed angrily and I changed the subject.
"In your spare time——" I began.
"I have none," he said. "I want none."
"But surely now and then," I urged, "after office hours?"
"I never relax," he said. "If I am not writing I am worshipping. I walk up and down on the other side of the street, gazing this way, wondering and adoring."
What a man!
"Now and then," I said, "you puzzle me a little. The columns in the evening papers go fairly straight to the point, but you are not always so direct. One now and then has to search for the true purpose of the article."