"I have formed no plans, Peter."
"A little earlier in the evening you rather censured me for entering into a campaign without definite designs."
"Censured you? I hope not. Still, strategy is rather useful, you know, but if there is to be no contest, there need be no strategy. I don't intend to fight Preston."
"Oh!" cried Mackeller, in a tone of deep disappointment, "I thought you promised to come in with us?"
"Certainly; but you see, my limited scope of mind is such that I can attend only to the thing directly in front of me. The thing directly in front of me now is not a fight, but gentle, persuasive conversation with Mr. Preston. Now you, Peter, possess splendid bull-dog qualities which are entirely absent from my composition. You have the defects that go with your qualities, and I have the defects that go with mine. Your defect is that you arouse antagonism. Preston's bristles will arise the moment he looks at your determined countenance, but my effect upon him will be entirely different. That Preston is a keen judge of character is shown by his refusal to have anything more to do with Sanderson, because even from your own account of Sanderson, you have convinced me that he is a futile sort of person. Now, it is quite probable that Preston will judge me to be futile also. He will see that I am an easy-going, billiard-
