"He wouldn't take a cigar."

"Samuel never smokes," Dr. Lavendar said shortly.

"And he wouldn't take a drink of whiskey."

"He's a very temperate man."

"Lavendar--"

"Yes?"

"Lavendar--_it was efficacious!_"




CHAPTER XVI


"The play is my life--next to you," Sam Wright's Sam was saying to
his father's tenant. He had left The Top before the two visitors
arrived, and as Dr. Lavendar had foreseen, had gone straight to the
Stuffed Animal House....

Helena was in a low chair, with David nestling sleepily in her arms;
Sam, looking up at her like a young St. John, half sat, half knelt, on
the step at her feet. The day had been hot, and evening had brought no
coolness; under the sentinel locusts on either side of the porch steps