I'll give you the very best," he replied as frankly as if he were discussing his gift to the church.

"What's more, I'll think it over a bit while I'm at the Hot Springs, and talk to you about it when I come back.

I suppose I can always get you on the telephone, can't I ?" His manner was still casual and business-like, and it did not change by so much as a shade when he moved a step nearer and put his arm about her waist.

If he had taken down his hat or lighted a cigar, he would probably have performed either action with the same air of automatic efficiency; and she realized, in the very instant of her amazement, that his manner was merely an authoritative expression of his power.

What astonished her most in the incident, after all, was not the judge's share in it, but the vividness and coolness of her own mental impressions.