The professor chuckled, and Ann, furious at betraying herself before him, fled precipitately, the crackling starch of her stiff skirts rattling as she ran.
For a moment Willits enjoyed his friend's embarrassment and then, as the probable meaning of the frock coat began to dawn upon him, his expression changed to one of apprehension.
"You weren't in earnest about that church nonsense, were you ?" "Certainly.

If you need a clean collar take one of mine, and hurry up.
The first bell has stopped ringing." "But I'm not going!" "Not if I ask you nicely ?" "But why?
What are you going for ?" "Come and see." The shrewd eyes of the professor grew coldly thoughtful.
"That is exactly what I shall do," he decided.
From the home of Mrs.Sykes upon Duke Street to the First Presbyterian Church upon Oliver's Hill is a brisk walk of fifteen minutes.

As Coombe lies in a valley, Oliver's Hill is not a hill, really, but a gentle eminence.

It is a charming, tree-lined street bordered by the homes and gardens of the well-to-do.

It is, in fact, _the_ street of Coombe, and to live upon Oliver's Hill is a social passport seldom mentioned but never ignored.
As if social prominence were not enough, it had another claim upon the affections and memories of many, for up this hill every Sunday in a long and goodly stream poured the first Presbyterians who were not only the elect but also the elite of Coombe.