He dropped heavily into a chair.

North's arrest, and the results of that arrest as he now saw them in that cheerless atmosphere, loomed large before his mind's eye.

He reflected that a trial for murder was a horrible and soul-racking experience.

He devoutly and prayerfully hoped that it would not come to this in North's case.
His meditation was broken in on by the sound of echoing steps in the brick-paved passageway, and then North and Conklin entered the room.

On their entrance the general quitted his chair and advanced to meet the young fellow, whose hand he took in silence.