by rain or other mishaps we expect to get to Newcastle
"Came in here to find out--didn't you, Whitredge?" he replied.
"What?" said the senator, taken aback; and for once at a loss for words.
The Honourable Hilary rose and stood straighter than usual, and looked the senator in the eye.
"What's your diagnosis?" he asked. "Superannuated--unfit for duty-- unable to cope with the situation ready to be superseded? Is that about it?"
To say that Senator Whitredge was startled and uncomfortable would be to put his case mildly. He had never before seen Mr. Vane in this mood.
"Ha-ha!" he laughed; "the years are coming over us a little, aren't they? But I guess it isn't quite time for the youngsters to step in yet."
"No, Whitredge," said Mr. Vane, slowly, without taking his eye from the senator's, "and it won't be until this convention is over. Do you understand?"
"That's the first good news I've heard this morning," said the senator, with the uneasy feeling that, in some miraculous way, the Honourable Hilary had read the superseding orders from highest authority through his pocket.
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