“It’s very natural, I’m sure,” said Bright, who was not the type of men who seek confidences. “Crowdie has made it all out much worse than it was. He’s a--I mean--I wish I’d met him when I was driving cattle in the Nacimiento Valley!” Katharine had never seen Bright so angry before, and the sight was very soothing and comforting to her. She fully concurred in Bright’s last-expressed wish. “You’re Jack’s best friend, aren’t you?” she asked. “Oh, well--a friend--he always says he hasn’t any. But I daresay I’d do as much for him as most of them, though, if I had to. I always liked the fellow for his dash, and we generally get on very well together. He’s just a trifle lively sometimes, and he doesn’t go well on the curb when he’s had--when he’s too lively--” “Why don’t you say when he drinks?” asked Katharine, biting on the words, as it were, though she forced herself to say them. “Well, he doesn’t drink exactly,” said Bright. “He’s got an awfully strong head and a cast-iron constitution, but he’s a queer chap. He gets melancholy, and thinks he’s a failure and tries to cheer himself with cocktails. And then, you see, having such a nerve, he doesn’t know exactly how many he takes; and there’s a limit, of course--and the last one does the trick. Then he won’t take anything to speak of for days together. He got a little too much on board last Monday--but that was excusable, and I hadn’t seen him that way for a long time. I daresay you heard of it? He saved a boy’s life between a lot of carts and horse-cars, and got a bad fall; and then, quite naturally--just as I should have done myself--he swallowed a big dose of something, and it went to his head. But he went straight home in a cab, so I suppose it was all right. It was a pretty brave thing he did--talk of baseball! It was one of the smartest bits of fielding I ever saw--the way he caught up the little chap, and the dog and the perambulator--forgot nothing, though it was a close shave. Oh--he’s brave enough! It’s a pity he can’t find anything to do.” “Monday,” repeated Katharine, thoughtfully. “Yes--I heard about it. Go on, please, Ham--about to-day. I want to hear everything there is.”