`` Patty , it 's the biggest beat we 've ever had ! We 've scooped not only the Ledger , but every other newspaper in the country . How did you do it ? How did you ever beguile or bewitch Andrew Reefer into giving you an interview ? '' `` Why , '' said Patty in utter bewilderment , `` I just went out to Mr. Reid 's and asked for the gentleman who was visiting there -- I 'd forgotten his name -- and Mr. Reefer came down and I told him my brother had been detailed to interview him on behalf of the Chronicle about the bill , and that Clifford had missed his train , and would n't he let me interview him in his place and excuse my inexperience -- and he did . '' `` It was n't Andrew Reefer I told Clifford to interview , '' laughed Mr. Harmer . `` It was John C. Keefe . I did n't know Reefer was in town , but even if I had I would n't have thought it a particle of use to send a man to him . He has never consented to be interviewed before on any known subject , and he 's been especially close-mouthed about this bill , although men from all the big papers in the country have been after him . He is notorious on that score . Why , Patty , it 's the biggest journalistic fish that has ever been landed in this office . Andrew Reefer 's opinion on the bill will have a tremendous influence . We 'll run the interview as a leader in a special edition that is under way already . Of course , he must have been ready to give the information to the public or nothing would have induced him to open his mouth . But to think that we should be the first to get it ! Patty , you 're a brick ! '' Clifford came home on the seven o'clock train , and Patty was there to meet him , brimful of her story . But Clifford also had a story to tell and got his word in first . `` Now , Patty , do n't scold until you hear why I missed the train . I met Mr. Peabody of the Steel and Iron Company at Mr. Moreland 's and got into conversation with him .
When he found out who I was , he was greatly interested and said Father had been one of his best friends when they were XXXXX college together .
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