of his fair listeners with abject terror.  Pale as a corpse, you know, and with that cadaverous face, lit with those malignant-looking eyes, his slender figure, and his long, thin legs and arms and hands, and his whole diabolical talent and adroitness brought into play—­why, I want to say to you, it’s enough to scare ’em to death!  Never a smile from him, though, till he and Hedrick are safe out into the night again—­then, of course, they hug each other and howl over it like Modocs!  But pardon; I’m interrupting the lecture.  Listen.”

“A lack of continuity, however,” continued the Professor, “and an undue love of approbation, would, measurably, at least, tend to retard the young man’s progress toward the consummation of any loftier ambition, I fear; yet as we have intimated, if the subject were appropriately educated to the need’s demand, he could doubtless produce a high order of both prose and poetry—­especially the latter—­though he could very illy bear being laughed at for his pains.”

“He’s dead wrong there,” said my friend; “Hedrick enjoys being laughed at; he ’s used to it—­gets fat on it!”

“He is fond of his friends,” continued the Professor “and the heartier they are the better; might even be convivially inclined—­if so tempted—­but prudent—­in a degree,” loiteringly concluded the speaker, as though unable to find the exact bump with which to bolster up the last named attribute.

The subject blushed vividly—­my friend’s right eyelid dropped, and there was a noticeable, though elusive sensation throughout the audience.

“But!” said the Professor, explosively, “selecting a directly opposite subject, in conjunction with the study of the one before us [turning to the group at the rear of the stage and beckoning], we may find a newer interest in the practical comparison of these subjects side by side.”  And the Professor pushed a very pale young man into position.

“Sweeney!” whispered my friend, delightedly; “now look out!”

“In this subject,” said the Professor, “we find the practical business head.  Square—­though small—­a trifle light at the base, in fact; but well balanced at the important points at least; thoughtful eyes—­wide-awake—­crafty—­quick—­restless—­a policy eye, though not denoting language—­unless, perhaps, mere business forms and direct statements.”

“Fooled again!” whispered my friend; “and I’m afraid the old man will fail to nest out the fact also that Sweeney is the cold-bloodedest guyer on the face of the earth, and with more diabolical resources than a prosecuting attorney; the Professor ought to know this, too, by this time—­for these same two chaps have been visiting the old man in his room at the hotel;—­that’s what I was trying to tell you awhile ago.  The old sharp thinks he’s ‘playing’ the boys, is my idea; but it’s the other way, or I lose my guess.”