"Oh, I imagine very readily."
"What did Maxwell say about him, generally?"
"Generally, that he's not at all a bad kind of fellow. He's a reporter
by nature, and he's a detective upon instinct. He's done some amateur
detective work, as many reporters do--according to Maxwell's account.
The two things run together--and he's very shrewd and capable in his
way. He's going into it as a speculation, and of course he wants it to
be worth his while. Maxwell says his expectation of newspaper promotion
is mere brag; they know him too well to put him in any position of
control. He's a mixture, like everybody else. He's devotedly fond of his
wife, and he wants to give her and the baby a change of air--"
"My idea," Hilary interrupted, "would be not to wait for the Social
Science Convention, but to send this--"
"Pinney."
"Pinney at once. Will you see him?"
"If you have made up your mind."
"I've made up my mind. But handle the wretch carefully, and for heaven's
sake bind him by all that's sacred--if there's anything sacred to
him--not to give the matter away. Let him fix his price, and offer him a
pension for his widow afterwards."