Ellery drawled: "Care to talk?"
The young man force a grin. "Curiously enough, I'm not in a conversational mood at the moment."
"Curiously enogh, I am. Peaceful atmosphere, two intelligent young men alone, smoking - perfect background for small talk, Kirk. I've always said - a most original and observation, of course - that what the American needs is not so much a good five-cent cigar as the civilizing inluence of inconsequential conversation. Don't you want to be civilized, you heathen?"
(from The Chinese Orange Mystery, by Ellery Queen)
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