"I should have had it sooner, but I have been in the country all day." The two men who had been talking with the superintendent turned quickly, and stared at the speaker.

He went on: "Mr.Harkless was an old--and--" He broke off, with a sudden, sharp choking, and for a moment was unable to control an emotion that seemed, for some reason, as surprising and unbefitting, in a person of his rubicund presence, as was his gravity.
An astonished tear glittered in the corner of his eye.

The grief of the gayer sorts of stout people appears, sometimes, to dumfound even themselves.

The young man took off his glasses and wiped them slowly.
"-- An old and very dear friend of mine." He replaced the glasses insecurely upon his nose.

"I telephoned to your headquarters, and they said you had come here." "Yes, sir; yes, sir," the superintendent of police responded, cheerfully.