"He did."

"With your approval, of course?"

"Yes."

"And Mrs. Westbrook's?"

"Certainly," returned the witness, with a mild expression of astonishment.

"But Doctor Westbrook rather emphatically opposed it, did he not?"

The General suddenly glared, and Mr. Merkel stirred uneasily.

"Pardon me," the latter added with a propitiatory tone, "er-ah—General; I shouldn't ask the question were it not necessary." The witness then coldly replied:

"Doctor Westbrook saw fit to obtrude himself into my private affairs in a manner that would have had no effect one way or another on the result."

"You mean?" Mr. Merkel innocently asked.