Enter Mayor Sluss, sad, heavy, subdued, shrunken, a very different gentleman from the one who had talked so cavalierly over the wires some five and a half hours before.

Gray weather, severe cold, and much contemplation of seemingly irreconcilable facts had reduced his spirits greatly.

He was a little pale and a little restless.

Mental distress has a reducing, congealing effect, and Mayor Sluss seemed somewhat less than his usual self in height, weight, and thickness.

Cowperwood had seen him more than once on various political platforms, but he had never met him.