Mrs. Webb bowed again.

"A great privilege, ma'am," protested the general, uneasily.

Mrs. Webb smiled.

"The greatest privilege of my life, ma'am!" cried the general, his face
flushing and his eyes growing round with agitation.

In the end they gained their point, and Mrs. Webb consented, but with a
reluctance of reserve which caused the general to choke with
embarrassment and the judge to become speechless from perplexity. When
they rose to leave both thanked her with effusion and both bowed
themselves out as gratefully as if it were a royal drawing-room and they
had received the honours of knighthood.

"She is a remarkable woman!" exclaimed the general, wiping his eyes on
his white silk handkerchief as they descended the steps. "A most unusual
woman! Why, I feel positively unworthy to sit in her presence. Her
manner brings all my past indiscretions to mind. It is an honour to have
such a character in the community, sir!"

The judge acquiesced silently.

The interview had tried his Epicurean fortitude, and he was wondering if
it would be necessary to repeat the call before Christmas.

"If Julius Webb had lived she would have made a man of him," continued
the general enthusiastically, the purple flush slowly fading from his
flabby face. "A creature who could live with that woman and not be made