"N—never telephone," said Mr. Braden.
"I certainly got a message from you," Mr. Crewe protested.
"Didn't say it was from me—didn't say so—did they—"
"No," said Mr. Crewe, "but—"
"Told Ball you wanted to have me see you, didn't you?"
Mr. Crewe, when he had unravelled this sentence, did not fancy the way it was put.
"I told Ball I was seeing everybody in Leith," he answered, "and that I had called on you, and you weren't at home. Ball inferred that you had a somewhat singular way of seeing people."
"You don't understand," was Mr. Braden's somewhat enigmatic reply.
"I understand pretty well," said Mr. Crewe. "I'm a candidate for the
Republican nomination for representative from Leith, and I want your vote
and influence. You probably know what I have done for the town, and that
I'm the biggest taxpayer, and an all-the-year-round resident."
"S—some in Noo York—hain't you?"