Hanley moved a
step nearer and, to emphasize what he said, tapped his knuckles on
the desk. With the air of one confident of his advantage, he spoke
slowly and softly.
"Do you appreciate," he asked, "that, while you may be of some
importance down here in this fever swamp, in Washington I am
supposed to carry some weight? Do you appreciate that I am a
senator from a State that numbers four millions of people, and that
you are preventing me from serving those people?"
Marshall inclined his head gravely and politely.
"And I want you to appreciate," he said, "that while I have no
weight at Washington, in this fever swamp I have the honor to
represent eighty millions of people, and as long as that consular
sign is over my door I don't intend to prostitute it for YOU, or
the President of the United States, or any one of those eighty
millions."
Of the two men, the first to lower his eyes was Hanley. He laughed
shortly, and walked to the door. There he turned, and
indifferently, as though the incident no longer interested him,
drew out his watch.
"Mr. Marshall," he said, "if the cable is working, I'll take your
tin sign away from you by sunset."
For one of Marshall's traditions, to such a speech there was no
answer save silence. He bowed, and, apparently serene and
undismayed, resumed his seat. From the contest, judging from the
manner of each, it was Marshall, not Hanley, who had emerged
victorious.
But Miss Cairns was not deceived.
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