“You know, Ellsworth,” he said, leaning forward, happy in an uneasy kind of way, “I . . . I’d rather talk to you than do anything else, anything at all. I had so many places to go tonight – and I’m so much happier just sitting here with you. Sometimes I wonder how I’d ever go on without you.”

“That,” said Toohey, “Is as it should be. Or else what are friends for?”