"There!" said Speed to Brenton, triumphantly, "what do you think of _that_?
Didn't I say George Stratton was the brightest newspaper man in Chicago?
I tell you, his getting that letter from old Brown was one of the cleverest bits of diplomacy I ever saw.

There you had quickness of perception, and nerve.

All the time he was talking to old Brown he was just taking that man's measure.

See how coolly he acted while he was drawing on his gloves and buttoning his coat as if ready to leave.

Flung that at Brown all of a sudden as quiet as if he was saying nothing at all unusual, and all the time watching Brown out of the tail of his eye.
Well, sir, I must admit, that although I have known George Stratton for years, I thought he was dished by that Cincinnati lawyer.