side by
side.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

IX

THE collective and individual charms of the Board of Regents so utterly
over-powered Langdon that he scarcely realised what was happening to him.

First, at their request, he sat cross-legged on the ground; and they
walked round and round him, inspecting him. Under such conditions no man
could be at his best; there was a silly expression on his otherwise
attractive face, which, as their attitude toward him seemed to waver
between indifference and disapproval, became unconsciously appealing.

"Kindly rise, Mr. Langdon," said Miss Challis, chairman of the board.

Langdon got up, and his ears turned red with a sudden and burning
self-consciousness.

"Please walk past us two or three times, varying your speed."

He walked in the various styles to which he had been accustomed, changing
speed at intervals and running the entire gamut between a graceful
boulevard saunter and a lost-dog sprint.

"Now," said the beautiful chairman, "be good enough to run past us
several times."

He complied and they studied his kangaroo-like action. Miss Vining even
bent over and felt of his ankles doubtfully, and to his vivid confusion
Miss Darrell strolled up, made him sit down on a log, placed one soft,
white finger on his mouth, and, opening it coolly, examined the interior.
Then they drew together, consulting in whispers, then Miss Challis came
with a stethoscope and listened to his pneumatic machinery, while Miss
Vining carelessly pinched his biceps and tried his reflexes. After which
Miss Darrell pushed a thermometer into his mouth, measured his pulses
and blood pressure, tested his sight and hearing and his sense of smell.
The latter was intensely keen, as he was very hungry.

Then Miss Challis came and stood behind him and examined,
phrenologically, the bumps on his head, while Miss Vining, seated at his
feet, read his palm, and Miss Darrell produced a dream book and a pack of
cards, and carefully cast his horoscope. But, except that it transpired
that he was going to take a journey, that somebody was going to leave him
money, and that a dark lady was coming over the sea to trouble him,
nothing particularly exciting was discovered concerning him.

Miss Challis, relinquishing his head, produced a crystal and gazed into
it. She did not say what she saw there. Miss Vining tried to hypnotise
him and came near hypnotising herself. Which scared and irritated her;
and