from her bright eyes, then her head was bent lower than before over
her notebook, and the carnation deepened in her cheek, while her
pencil sped over the paper fast and furiously. Presently came a
sharp retort from Raeburn, ending with the perfectly warrantable
accusation that Mr. Randolph was wandering from the subject of the
evening merely to indulge his personal spite. The audience was
beginning to be roused by the unfairness, and a storm might have
ensued had not Mr. Randolph unintentionally turned the whole
proceedings from tragedy to farce.

Indignant at Raeburn's accusation, he sprung to his feet and began
a vigorous protest.

"Mr. Chairman, I denounce my opponent as a liar. His accusation is
utterly false. I deny the allegation, and I scorn the allegator
--"

He was interrupted by a shout of laughter, the whole assembly was
convulsed, even Erica's anger changed to mirth.

"Fit for 'Punch,'" she whispered to Brian, her face all beaming
with merriment.

Raeburn, whose grave face had also relaxed into a smile, suddenly
stood up, and, with a sort of dry Scotch humor, remarked:

"My enemies have compared me to many obnoxious things, but never
till tonight have I been called a crocodile. Possibly Mr. Randolph
has been reading of the crocodiles recently dissected at Paris. It
has been discovered that they are almost brainless, and, being