So now I had a clean-cut issue of veracity between Mr. Rice and Mr. Burns, and it seemed worth a trip to Los Angeles to find out which was the liar. I went in on a Monday morning, and fate was unkind to Mr. Rice—he had been out of town over the week-end, and had not read anything about the controversy, nor had anyone in the University Club taken the trouble to call him up and warn him. I took the precaution to bring my brother-in-law, Hunter Kimbrough, as witness to the interview, and Mr. Rice received us in his private office. I explained my point of view: he and I were antagonists on opposite sides of the class struggle; I had my opinion of him, and freely granted him the right to have his opinion of me. The only thing I took exception to was the fact that in discussing me he had made use of the name of Mr. Burns. Mr. Rice is one of these two-fisted men of action, quite different from the president of a University Club. His answer was prompt and explicit: “Anything that I say once I’ll say twice. It is a fact that at a recent gathering, in the presence of myself and several business men of this city, Mr. William J. Burns stated that you were ‘a parlor pink and a dangerous enemy of the United States government.’” “I thank you, Mr. Rice,” I replied. “Now I am wondering what you will have to say to this telegram”; and I put into his hands the telegram from Mr. Burns, declaring: “I made no statements concerning you as a private citizen or government official at Pasadena or elsewhere, nor have I ever undermined the character of you or any other person.” “What have you to say to that, Mr. Rice?” I asked, and Mr. Rice replied: “Well, I will say that I am surprised.” It was unnecessary for him to say that—his face showed it! Mr. Rice refused to name the other men who had been present at the interview, but he remarked that the gathering was of such a nature that it was manifest to everyone that Mr. Burns was there as a private citizen, and not as chief of the United States Secret Service. Do you think I would be reckless if I should guess that it was a gathering of the chiefs of the Black Hand, and that Mr. Burns was there in his other capacity, as head of the William J. Burns agency of espionage and strike-breaking?