nd was a
glass containing a red liquid, which Burke at first sight supposed was
wine. He was soon to be undeceived.

He stood a full minute while the president of the League mumbled to
himself as he perused the Sacred Writ. Bobbie was thus enabled to get
a clear view of the philanthropist's profile, and to study the great
man from a good point of vantage.

Trubus was rotund. His cheeks were rosy evidences of good health, good
meals and freedom from anxiety as to where those good meals were to
come from. His forehead was round, and being partially bald, gave an
appearance of exaggerated intellectuality.

His nose was that of a Roman centurion--bold, cruel as a hawk's beak,
strong-nostriled as a wolf's muzzle. His firm white teeth, as they
crunched on the cracker suggested, even stronger, the semblance to a
carnivorous animal of prey. A benevolent-looking pair of gold-rimmed
glasses sat astride that nose, but Burke noticed that, oddly enough,
Trubus did not need them for his reading, nor later when he turned to
look at the young officer.

The plump face was adorned with the conventional "mutton-chop" whiskers
which are so generally associated in one's mental picture of bankers,
bishops and reformers. The whiskers were so resolutely black, that
Burke felt sure they must have been dyed, for Trubus' plump hands, with
their wrinkles and yellow blotches, evidenced that the philanthropist
must have passed the three-score milestone of time.

The white gaiters, the somber black of his well-fitting broadcloth coat
of ministerial cut, the sanctified, studied manner of the man's pose
gave Burke an almost indefinable feeling that before him sat a cleverly
"made-up" actor, not a sincere, natural man of benevolent activities.

The room was furnished elaborately; some rare Japanese ivories adorned
the desk top. A Chinese vase, close by, was filled with fresh-cut
flowers. Around the walls were handsome oil paintings. Beautiful
Oriental rugs covered the floor. There hung a tapestry from some old
French convent; yonder stood an exquisite marble statue whose value
must have been enormous.

As Trubus raised the glass to drink the red liquid Bobbie caught the
glint of an enormous diamond ring which must have cost thousands.

"Well, evidently his charity begins at home!" thought the young man as
he stepped toward the desk.

Tiring of the wait he addressed the absorbed reader.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Trubus, but I was an