heart almost stopped beating, and his
smile faded as he stared breathless at this portly and beneficent
Mercury. Mercury went on "A vestry meeting was held last night in which
this was decided upon. Your brilliant record in this seminary and other
qualifications which have been mentioned to us by high authorities, were
the reasons for this action which appeared upon the surface, but I want
you to know the inner workings--I asked your cousin to bring me here
that I might have the pleasure of telling you."

It was rather warm, and the old gentleman had climbed stairs, and his
conversation had been weighty and steady. He arrested its flow for a
moment and took a long breath. "Don't stop," said Rex earnestly, and the
others broke into sudden laughter.

"I like that," Judge Rush sputtered, chuckling. "You're ready to let me
kill myself, if needs be, to get the facts. All right, young man--I like
impetuosity--it means energy. I'll go on. The facts not known to the
public, which I wish to tell you, are as follows. After your failure to
keep your appointment on the evening of the 7th, I was about through
with you. I considered you careless both of your own interests and ours,
and we began to look for another assistant. A man who fitted the place
as you did seemed hard to find and the case was _in statu quo_ when, two
nights ago, my son brought home young William Strong to dinner. Our
families are old friends and Billy's father and I were chums in college,
so the boy is at home in our house. As you probably know, he has the
gift of telling a good story, so when he began on the events of an
evening which you will remember----"

Rex's deep laughter broke into the dignified sentences at this point.

"I see you remember." Judge Rush smiled benignly. "Well, Mr. Fairfax,
Billy made an amusing story of that evening. Only the family were at the
table and he spared himself not at all. He had been in Orange the day
before, and the young lady in the case had told him how you had
protected him at your own expense--he made that funny too, but I thought
it very fine behavior--very fine, indeed, sir." Rex's face flushed under
this. "And as I thought the whole affair over afterwards, I not only
understood why you had failed me, but I honored you for attempting no
explanation, and I made up my mind that you were the man we wanted. Yes,
sir, the man we want. A man who knows how to deal with the situations of
to-day, with the vices of a great