"I'm not asking impossibilities," said Steingall, who had a dry humor,
and seldom missed a chance of gratifying it. "I have merely laid down
a proviso which must be observed, not for a day, or a week, but as long
as any of us is alive. State affairs are not the property of
individuals. They come first, all the time. If they don't suit our
convenience, we must simply adjust ourselves to the new conditions."
"You alarm me, Steingall," cried Devar. "Have we been drawn into an
international squabble? Don't tell me that Devar's canned salmon is
really a deadly sort of bomb."
"I've heard more improbable things. But you would not be your father's
son, Mr. Devar, if you can't keep a tight lip when statements are made
in your presence which may astonish you. Mr. Curtis and you are now
about to meet a very clever man, Otto Schmidt, the lawyer, and I fancy
your name will help in the argument. Is your father in New York?"
"He arrives here from Chicago to-night."
"He has never met Mr. Curtis?"
"No, but he jolly soon will."
"But, if it were possible to get hold of him by telephone or telegraph
to-day, he would say he had never heard of him?"
"I guess that's so. What are you driving at?"
"Schmidt must know your father. They are bound to have come together
in more than one important deal.
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