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said, “It's a little bird that's usually found in the South and seldom gets as far north as Washington.” Chambers concluded, “Hiss was like a little boy about this: excited because he had seen this bird much further north than its usual habitat. This prothonotary warbler is something that he's very pleased to talk about!”

That was all Chambers could come up with. Nixon said, “That was a pretty small treasure, but I did what I could with it. We called Hiss back. I asked him, ‘Mr. Hiss, have you always been in public life?‘Hiss, after his usual hesitation, said, ‘Yes.‘I said, “Did you ever make any money privately?” Hiss stopped for a minute, then smiled and said, “Well, this is a ridiculous story but I once did make a little money privately.” And he proceeded to tell almost word for word the story of the spring water...how he had sold it for a dollar a bottle and made clear profit of eight dollars. Our committe felt we had hit pay dirt.”

Nixon said next, “What sports do you indulge in?" Hiss answered, “Well, I play some tennis. Occasionally I play golf. I don't go in for much sports.” Nixon said, “Well, don't you do anything on the side to amuse yourself?" Hiss said, “Well, we're bird watchers.” Nixon said, “Did you ever have any special experience bird watching?" Hiss said, “This spring something rather unusual took place. You won't know what I'm talking about, but we saw a prothonotary warbler right outside of Washington on the banks of the Potomac.”

Well, this proved that Chambers knew Hiss quite well.





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