CHAPTER XLIV
FACING HIS ACCUSERS
Seasonable July weather caused discomfort
for the seven persons assembled in the
dingy office of Rufus Kilgore for the purpose
of attending the meeting called to consider
Manager Mike Riley's claims. Riley himself, in
his shirt sleeves, sat with his back toward one of
the wide-open windows, a handkerchief tucked
round his neck inside his collar, grumbling and
smoking. Anson Graham, president of the
league, a serious, middle-aged man, with block-*trimmed
whiskers, who had the look of one who
might be just, but would rarely temper his justice
with mercy, was talking to Kilgore, the secretary
of the organization, who occupied the chair at the
desk.
David Farman and William Jones, representing Fryeburg and Lakeport, respectively, were aimlessly discussing various topics, such as the weather, crop prospects, and the ardent desire that the usual number of boarders from the city might be netted by the blandishments of adver-
