Mrs. Tarbell read the release, and then looked at Mr. Pope.
But he did not blench.

"I regret this extremely, Mrs. Tarbell," he said. "It places me in a
very unenviable position. It was done," he continued, with a brazen
front, "it was done without my knowledge. My advice was not asked: the
company acted on their own responsibility and of their own motion. It
is, at best, a poor compliment to me as an officer of the road."

"Pray, how did Mrs. Stiles happen to go to the company's office?" asked
Mrs. Tarbell.

"I have not had a very clear account of it myself," said Mr. Pope,
clearing his throat and putting one foot up on a chair in front of him.
"It seems, however, that Mrs. Stiles was--hem--very much frightened by
my speech, and in some way got into conversation with an agent of the
company, a sort of bailiff to the corporation, in fact,--a man who
serves their subpoenas, and looks up their witnesses, and so on, in
addition to other work. This man is a sharp fellow, and, finding out
which way the cat was jumping, he decided, I suppose, that he would try
to make it jump as far as possible. Mrs. Stiles herself spoke of the
compromise, and said she regretted she had not signed it. That was
enough for my man; and when Judge Measy fainted he suggested to her to
take advantage of the delay by going round to the railway company's
office with him, where, he said, of course, he would see what he could
do for her, as he had friends in the office. At the company's office he
represented that he was acting under orders from me, the fact of the
matter being that the rogue knew that the case was going against us, and
Mrs. Stiles was virtually allowed to name her own sum. She took it, and
signed the release. The ingenious bailiff is in disgrace, but the
company think they have a good thing in the release, and I, as their
servant, can't refuse to obey them. _You_ understand that, of _course_,
my dear madam. But I must repeat that I'm sorry, and sorry for my own
sake, that this has happened, for I should be very unwilling to have
anything occur to interrupt or cloud the very pleasant professional
relations in which I have had the good fortune to find myself standing
toward you. But clients are queer cattle, as you'll soon discover. I can
assure you I have been treated much worse in my day."

Mrs. Tarbell tapped the slender paper against her open palm. Her lips
were compressed. Mr. Pope gazed at her with a queer look in his eyes.
Th