f air.

Sir John smiled, and continued very quietly and courteously. "You must
forgive me, Mr. Dale, if by my bruskness and apparent lack of
consideration I put you to a little test. But it seemed necessary. You
see, as to Rodhaven, the gravamen of their charge against you--"

"Charge!" Dale's voice had dropped to a whisper. "Do they lodge a
charge against me, sir--in spite of my record?"

"Their report is of course strictly confidential, and it is not
perhaps my duty to inform you as to its details."

"I thought if a person's accused, he should at least know his
indictment, sir."

Sir John smiled, and nudged the Colonel's elbow. "Then, Mr. Dale, it
merely amounts to this. They say you are unquestionably an efficient
servant, but that your efficiency--at any rate, in the position you
have held of late--has been marred by what seem to be faults of
temperament. They believe--and we believe--that you honestly try to
do your best; but, well, you do not succeed."

"I'd be glad to know where I've failed, sir. Mr. Ridgett, he said he
found everything in apple-pie order. That was Mr. Ridgett's very own
word."

"Who is Mr. Ridgett?"

"Your inspector, sir--what you sent to take over."

"Ah, yes. But he no doubt referred to the office itself. What I am
referring to is a much wider question--the necessity of avoiding
friction with the public. We have to remember that we are the servants
of the public, and not its masters. Now in country districts--You were
at Portsmouth, weren't you, before you went to Rodchurch?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, of course, in the poorer parts of big towns like Portsmouth,
one has rather a rough crowd to deal with; good manners may not be
required; a dictatorial method is not so much resented. But in a
country village, in a residential neighborhood, where high and low are
accustomed to live in amity--well, I must say candidly, a postmaster
who adopts bullying tactics, and is always losing his temper--"

"Sir," said Dale earnestly, "I do assure you I am not a bully, nor one
who is always losing his temper."

"Yet you gave me the impression of irascibility just now, when I drew
you."

Dale inwardly cursed his stupidity in having allowed himself to be
drawn. He had made a mistake that might prove fatal. He felt that the
whole point of the affair was being lost sight of; they seemed to have
drifted away into a discussion of good and bad manners, while he
wanted to get back to the great issue of