{"product_id":"2940014043564","title":"The Man with the Squeaky Voice","description":"Tod Challenger, cutting off the end of his cigar, watched the Man with\u003cbr\u003ethe Squeaky Voice steer his way between the dining tables, glancing\u003cbr\u003enervously from side to side, and disappear through the doorway.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"By Heaven, Masters!\" said he, \"if ever I saw Fear in a man's eyes,\u003cbr\u003ethat's where.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A strange, furtive fellow,\" said I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Furtive, is it? Your vocabulary wants a tonic, my son. He's simply\u003cbr\u003esoused in Fear! He was even afraid of you! What better evidence do you\u003cbr\u003ewant?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI flicked an almond at Tod, though he was by much my senior.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"He seemed quite chatty with you, Tod. Merely proof that I've the far\u003cbr\u003emore formidable personality.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"He was chatty with me because I'm an American. The formidable element\u003cbr\u003ein your personality, young Masters, was that you're an Englishman. And\u003cbr\u003eat this moment Pasty-face is afraid of his fellow-countrymen. When he\u003cbr\u003eheard your pretty Oxford accents, he just went green!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTod's picturesque account of it was roughly true. The dining-room at the\u003cbr\u003eAntlers Hotel had been rather full, and a waiter had taken us to a small\u003cbr\u003esquare table at which already sat a man of middle age, who looked\u003cbr\u003eannoyed at the disturbance of his solitude. A well-preserved man, with\u003cbr\u003ehardly a gray hair, he wore a thick dark mustache. His figure was\u003cbr\u003eathletic, but he had the sallowest complexion I have ever seen and the\u003cbr\u003esqueakiest voice I have ever heard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChallenger has the American capacity for intercourse highly developed,\u003cbr\u003eand the charm that disarms resentment. So before he had eaten his soup\u003cbr\u003ehe had the squeaky-voiced man in amicable conversation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe seemed a well-educated man, and, in spite of his peculiarities, would\u003cbr\u003enot have been an unpleasant companion but for his furtive nervousness of\u003cbr\u003emanner.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen it was as Tod said. I had no sooner opened my mouth than he froze\u003cbr\u003eup. He dropped his fork on the table and looked at me with a start of\u003cbr\u003ealarm. His pallid face took on a literally ghastly hue. Presently he\u003cbr\u003erose, squeaked a word of apology, and was winding his way out between\u003cbr\u003ethe tables.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe did not see him again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That man,\" Tod summed up, \"is living in Hell.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTod Challenger and I had become friends in London. I was almost a\u003cbr\u003egreenhorn in the office of the _Morning Telegram_, and Tod, a man of\u003cbr\u003eforty, was a mature and even a famous journalist. His American paper\u003cbr\u003eused the _Morning Telegram_ services and had an office in that new and\u003cbr\u003elordly building of ours which was one of the wonders of Fleet Street.\u003cbr\u003eHaving taken a liking to me, Tod had persuaded Allen, the news-editor,\u003cbr\u003eto commission me for a series of articles on what he called \"the\u003cbr\u003eAmerican scene.\" It simply meant a jolly tour of the United States in\u003cbr\u003eTod's company. Now, almost at the end of it, we had come down to\u003cbr\u003eColorado Springs to have a quiet day or two at the Antlers Hotel. And\u003cbr\u003ehere on our first evening we met the Man with the Squeaky Voice.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073860321520,"sku":"2940014043564","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014043564_p0.jpg?v=1763599656","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014043564","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}