nother man at hand, and then throws me aside when the fit is over."

"O yes, we all know that, of course. Well, brother, you can go to town
with an easy mind. Leave Mr. Hartman to Clarice and me; when she is not
in the humor to attend to him, I will."

Now how does Jane come to know so much? Has the Princess been taking her
into the plan too, as well as me? That I don't believe. Clarice would
expect Jane to take her cue by intuition, and not bother to coach her as
she has me: perhaps she can trust Jane farther. That must be it: one
woman can see into another's mind where a man couldn't. I must put a
mark on that for future reference. They do beat us at some minor points.
Well, I didn't exactly get the best of that encounter: it seems to me I
owe Jane one, which I must try and remember to pay.

VII.

INITIATION.

Hartman arrived on schedule time, and was duly taken home with me. "Old
man," I said, "welcome back to the amenities of life; to the tender
charities of man and woman; to the ties, too long neglected, which bind
your being to the world's glad heart. You are the prodigal returning
from sowing his wild oats in the backwoods: the fatted calf shall be
killed for you, in moderation, as per contract, and the home brewed ale
drawn mild. We are quiet people, and live mostly by ourselves: that will
suit your book. The giddy crowd, in its frivolous pursuit of amusement
and fashion, surges by in the immediate vicinity, and old Ocean, in his
storm-tost fury, dashes his restless waves upon our good back door, or
adjacent thereto. But we give small heed to either one of them. The sea
views and feminine costumes are supposed to be of the highest order,
and there is polo at stated intervals, if you care for such; but these
vanities have little to do with the calm current of our daily life. You
will shortly have in front of you a christian family, united in bonds of
long-tried affection and confidence. The earthly paradise, James, must
be sought in the peaceful bosom of one's Home. After tossing on the
angry billows of Water Street, how sweet to return to this haven of
rest! And you too, world-worn and weary man of woes, shall receive
attention. The furrows of care shall be smoothed out of your manly brow:
gentle hands will bind up your wounds--even the one you got from that
girl a dozen years ago, if it isn't healed yet. The shadows of gloomy
and soul-debasing Theory will flit away from your bewildered brain, and
i