ort of information. He was actually
compelled to use his imagination to answer the shareholders' questions.
This was painful and humiliating; he had never heard of any secretary
having to use his imagination! He went further--it was insulting! He had
grown grey in the service of the company. Mr. Scorrier would bear him
out when he said he had a position to maintain--his name in the City was
a high one; and, by George! he was going to keep it a high one; he would
allow nobody to drag it in the dust--that ought clearly to be understood.
His directors felt they were being treated like children; however that
might be, it was absurd to suppose that he (Hemmings) could be treated
like a child...! The secretary paused; his eyes seemed to bully the
room.

"If there were no London office," murmured Pippin, "the shareholders
would get the same dividends."

Hemmings gasped. "Come!" he said, "this is monstrous!"

"What help did I get from London when I first came here? What help have
I ever had?"

Hemmings swayed, recovered, and with a forced smile replied that, if this
were true, he had been standing on his head for years; he did not believe
the attitude possible for such a length of time; personally he would have
thought that he too had had a little something to say to the company's
position, but no matter...! His irony was crushing.... It was possible
that Mr. Pippin hoped to reverse the existing laws of the universe with
regard to limited companies; he would merely say that he must not begin
with a company of which he (Hemmings) happened to be secretary. Mr.
Scorrier had hinted at excuses; for his part, with the best intentions in
the world, he had great difficulty in seeing them. He would go further
--he did not see them! The explosion...! Pippin shrank so visibly that
Hemmings seemed troubled by a suspicion that he had gone too far.

"We know," he said, "that it was trying for you...."

"Trying!" "burst out Pippin.

"No one can say," Hemmings resumed soothingly, "that we have not dealt
liberally." Pippin made a motion of the head. "We think we have a good
superintendent; I go further, an excellent superintendent. What I say
is: Let's be pleasant! I am not making an unreasonable request!" He
ended on a fitting note of jocularity; and, as if by consent, all three
withdrew, each to his own room, without another word.

In the course of the next day Pippin said to Scorrier: "It seems I have
been very wic