“I can't accept your resignation,” he said, fussing nervously among the papers on his desk. “I didn't put you at Antioch; that was General Cornish's own idea, and I don't know what he'll think.” “It has gotten past the point where I care what he thinks,” retorted Dan, curtly. “You must send some one else there to take hold.” “Why didn't you cable him instead of writing me?” fretfully. “I don't know what he will want, only it's pretty certain to be the very thing I sha'n't think of.” “I would have cabled him if I had considered it necessary, but it never occurred to me that my resignation would not be agreed to on the spot, as my presence in Antioch only widens the breach and increases the difficulty of a settlement with the men.” “Whom did you leave in charge?” inquired Holloway. “Holt.” “Who's he?” “He's Kerr's assistant,” Dan explained. “Why didn't you leave Kerr in charge?” demanded the vice-president. “I laid him off,” said Dan, in a tone of exasperation, and then he added, to forestall more questions: “He was in sympathy with the men, and he hadn't the sense to keep it to himself. I couldn't be bothered with him, so I got rid of him.” “Well, I must say you have made a frightful mess of the whole business, Oakley, but I told General Cornish from the first that you hadn't the training for the position.” Dan turned very red in the face at this, but he let it pass. “It's too bad,” murmured Holloway, still fingering the letters on the desk. “Since you are in doubt, why don't you cable General Cornish for instructions, or, if there is a reason why you don't care to, it is not too late for me to cable,” said Dan. This proposal did not please Holloway at all, but he was unwilling to admit that he feared Cornish's displeasure, which, where he was concerned, usually took the form of present silence and a subsequent sarcasm that dealt with the faulty quality of his judgment. The sarcasm might come six months after it had been inspired, but it was certain to come sooner or later, and to be followed by a bad half-hour, which Cornish devoted to past mistakes. Indeed, Cornish's attitude towards him had become, through long association, one of chronic criticism, and he was certain to be unpleasantly affected both by what he did and by what he left undone. “Why don't you wait until the general returns from England? That's not far off now. Under the circumstances he'll accept your resignation.” “He will have to,” said Oakley, briefly. “Don't worry; he'll probably demand it,” remarked the vice-president, disagreeably. “If you are so sure of this, why don't you accept it?” retorted Dan. “I have no one to appoint in your place.” “What's wrong with Holt? He'll do temporarily.” “I couldn't feel positive of his being satisfactory to General Cornish. He's a very young man, ain't he?” “Yes, I suppose you'd call him a young man, but he has been with the road for a long time, and has a pretty level head. I have found him very trustworthy.”