Lordy me, that coffee sure does smell good to me!" Mason looked at him doubtfully, saw that Ford was, for the time being, absolutely devoid of anything remotely approaching penitence for his sins, or compunction over his appearance, or uneasiness over "Kate's" opinion of him.

He was hungry.

And since it is next to impossible to whip up the conscience of a man whose thoughts are concentrated upon his physical needs, Mason was wise enough to wait, though the one point which he considered of vital importance to them both--the question of Ford's acceptance or refusal of the foremanship of the Double Cross--had not yet been touched upon.
While Ford ate with a controlled voraciousness which spoke eloquently of his twenty-four hours of fasting and exposure, Mason gossiped inattentively and studied the man.
Eight years leave their impress of mental growth or deterioration upon a man.

Outwardly Ford was not much changed since Mason had come with him out of Alaska and lost sight of him afterwards.

There was the maturity which the man of thirty possessed and which the virile young fellow of twenty-one had lacked.