The other bowed.
"Mr. Mallory desires to know—if you will pardon my abruptness in proceeding immediately to the matter in hand—to know if it is not possible for you to fulfill a certain—er—engagement which you had with him."
"I see," said Williams, thoughtfully, and he tapped the floor with his foot for a minute or so.
"Mr. Mallory, of course, understands," he continued at last, "that I have no grudge against him at all."
"Certainly," said the Parson.
"In fact, I rather admire Mr. Mallory, on the whole, though some of his actions have been, I think, imprudent. In this matter I am simply the deputy of the class."
"Exactly," said the Parson, bowing profusely.
"Therefore, I fight when the class says so, and when they say no, what reason have I for fighting? Now, the class thinks that Mr. Mallory has had chance enough, and——"
"But they don't know the circumstances!" protested Stanard, with more suddenness than was usual with him.
"They do not," responded the other. "But they'd like to."