HIS QUICK PERCEPTION
His marvelously quick and clear perception of any problem or proposition, no matter how intricate or involved, seemed little less than miraculous. A prospective client once came to him with a budget of typewritten matter and asked if he would go through it. "Certainly; let me see it." "Very well, Colonel, I'll leave it and call in a day or two for your answer." "Nonsense; wait a minute." Then turning over the pages one by one he handed back the screened, saying, "You have a good cause, and if you wish I will undertake it for you." "But you don't know it yet, Colonel?" "Oh yes I do." "Why, it includes a good many knotty questions and has lots of figuring in it." "To be sure; I have gone over them; haven't I just read it all? To convince you, I will restate it, and then point by point Mr. Ingersoll rehearsed the subject-matter, not omitting the figured calculations. "Amazing, Colonel; I believe you could see through a brick wall! It has taken me and my assistants days to prepare that statement, and you have mastered it in a few minutes!" He tried the case and got the verdict. |
