Page 142 (1/1)

Kate tried hard to " rather adroitly Whenever he seemed about to enter upon a discourse she interrupted him, met his ponderous phrases with flippancies, plied hiular weakness), and in ed and, in the end, intie and knew it, and the knowledge irritated him However, with all his eccentricities he was a man of considerable social experience, and, while he was not at any tiuise offend, though he sank at last into a glowering silence, leaving the talk to Weiss from her, almost before she realized it, a promise to join a theatre-party, and thereupon turned to Viola to say, "I hope you will consent"

"Consent?" she cried, with shining eyes "I should like it above everything You see I've never really lived in a big city, and it's all so new and splendid to htly "I wish I could see it with your eyes I suppose New York is a wonderful city, and I' unparalleled in beauty, but just now I take the point of view of a native who has been driven out of the good old don streets by vulgar trade The Servisses lived for forty years at the corner of Corlear Square, but four years ago a big apartht, and we had to rows al American may buy the pleasure he thinks commensurate Most of us ere born here have quite lost our hold on the earth; for instance, here we are, Kate and I, treed in a ten-story hotel on ground froather huckleberries, and therein lies the history of many another New York fa-roo is beautiful I want mamma to take an aparth it makes me homesick for the West sometimes"

"If you do decide to take an apartment, consult Kate What she doesn't know of New York isn't lady-like for any one to know Frankly, Mrs Laet away from Pratt's house He is, I fear, a selfish, brutal business-otist ould sacrifice you both instantly if it would add to his co my duties as host--we are to avoid all unpleasant topics," and thereupon he led the conversation back to impersonal discussions of books and music