Whereupon the senior clerk, a grave, middle-aged person, in green
glasses, was summoned and interrogated.
His testimony cleared the under-secretary at once. He declared that
Mr. Raikes had in no instance, to his knowledge, been absent during
office hours since his return from his annual holiday in September.
I was confounded. The chairman turned to me with a smile, in which a
shade of covert annoyance was scarcely apparent.
"You hear, Mr. Langford?" he said.
"I hear, sir; but my conviction remains unshaken."
"I fear, Mr. Langford, that your convictions are very insufficiently
based," replied the chairman, with a doubtful cough. "I fear that you
'dream dreams,' and mistake them for actual occurrences. It is a
dangerous habit of mind, and might lead to dangerous results. Mr.
Raikes here would have found himself in an unpleasant position, had
he not proved so satisfactory an _alibi_."
I was about to reply, but he gave me no time.
"I think, gentlemen," he went on to say, addressing the board, "that
we should be wasting time to push this inquiry further.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142