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You've forgotten
one thing; that Arbuthnot's arrest and confession would make the
whole story news. We stand ready to arrest Arbuthnot, and he
stands ready to confess."
There was a long, tense minute of silence. Then--
"What do you want?" The straight-to-the-point question was an
admission of defeat.
"Your announcement of withdrawal. I'd rather print that than the
Arbuthnot story."
There was a long silence. Finally the Honorable Linder dropped his
hand on the table. "You win," he declared curtly. "But you'll
give me the benefit, in the announcement, of bad health caused by
the shock of the explosion, to explain my quitting, Waldemar?"
"It will certainly make it more plausible," assented the newspaper
owner with a smile.
Linder turned on Average Jones.
"Did you dope this out, young fellow?" he demanded.
"Yes."
"Well, you've put me in the Down-and-Out-Club, all right. And I'm
just curious enough to want to know how you did it."
"By abstaining," returned Average Jones cryptically, "from the best
wine that ever came out of the Cosmic Club cellar.


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