May I be permitted to assume that this is the Miss Betty of whom my young protege so often speaks ?" The judge beamed benevolently, and rested a ponderous hand on the boy's head.
Tom Ware gave him a glance of undisguised astonishment, while Norton regarded him with an expression of stunned and resolute gravity.

Mahaffy seemed to be undergoing a terrible moment of uncertainty.

He was divided between two purposes: one was to seize Price by the coat tails and drag him back into the crowd; the other was to kick him, and himself fly that spot.

This singular impulse sprang from the fact that he firmly believed his friend's appearance was sufficient to blast the boy's chances in every quarter; nor did he think any better of himself.
Betty looked at the judge rather inquiringly.
"I am glad he has found friends," she said slowly.

She wanted to believe that judge Slocum Price was somehow better than he looked, which should have been easy, since it was incredible that he could have been worse.
"He has indeed found friends," said the judge with mellow unction, and swelling visibly.