They have stood back of you at
every step, and, incidentally; back of me and the other boys."
"When you say 'they' you of course mean 'she'."
"Of course. One has to recognize him, though--as the head of the
family. And he really did have a part in it, too; at least, if he
had been against us we never would have won."
"I can't pretend that I didn't suspect," said Kirk slowly, "but I
did hope I'd made good on my own merits."
Runnels laughed. "You have made good all right, or you couldn't go
forward; but this is a government job, and fellows like us aren't
big enough to get through on our own merits. One has to be a real
world-beater to do that. If the Cortlandts hadn't backed us, some
other chaps with influence would have stepped in above us. Take
Blakeley, for instance. He is nothing extra, and he doesn't know
half as much about this business as I do; but he's the brother-in-
law of Colonel Jolson, and he'd have landed the job sure if it
hadn't been for our friends. You'd better let your conscience take
a nap."
"I'd like to show the Cortlandts that we appreciate what they've
done, but we can't openly thank her without humiliating him. I'd
like to give him something."
"Suppose we give him a quiet little supper, some night, and tell
him frankly how grateful we are.
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