"He's conspicuous by his absence. Do you know what I heard the other day? I was told that Underwood had again been caught cheating at cards and summarily expelled from the club--kicked out, so to speak." "I'm not at all surprised. I always had my doubts about him. He induced a friend of mine to buy a picture, and got a tremendous price for it on the false representation that it was a genuine Corot. My friend found out afterward that he had been duped. Proceedings were threatened, but Underwood managed to hush the affair by returning part of the money." In another part of the room a couple were discussing Mr. Jeffries as he stood talking with Judge Brewster. "Did you notice how Mr. Jeffries has aged recently? He no longer seems the same man." "No wonder, after all the trouble he's had. Of course you know what a disappointment his son turned out?" "A scamp, I understand. Married a chorus girl and all that sort of thing." "Not exactly, but almost as bad. The girl was a waitress or something like that in a restaurant. She's very common; her father died in prison. You can imagine the blow to old Jeffries. He turned the boy adrift and left him to shift for himself." Alicia approached her husband, who was still talking with Judge Brewster. She was leaning on the arm of a tall, handsome man with a dark Van Dyke beard. "Who are you discussing with such interest?" she demanded, as she came up with her escort. "We were talking of Captain Clinton and his detestable police methods," said the banker. "Judge," said Alicia, turning to the lawyer, "allow me to introduce Dr. Bernstein. Doctor, this is Judge Brewster." The stranger bowed low, as he replied courteously: "The fame of Judge Brewster has spread to every State in the Union." A faint smile spread over the face of the famous lawyer as he extended his hand: "I've often heard of you, too, doctor. I've been reading with great interest your book, 'Experimental Psychology.' Do you know," he went on earnestly, "there's a lot in that. We have still much to learn in that direction." "I think," said Dr. Bernstein quietly, "that we're only on the threshold of wonderful discoveries." Pleased to find that her two distinguished guests were congenial, Alicia left them to themselves and joined her other guests. "Yes," said the lawyer musingly, "man has studied for centuries the mechanism of the body, but he has neglected entirely the mechanism of the mind." Dr. Bernstein smiled approvingly.