ut
what most distinguished the town, after all, in Margaret's first glimpse
of it, was the swarming negro population pervading every part of it--the
slouching plantation negro, the smart mulatto girl with gay raiment and
mincing step, the old-time auntie, the brisk waiter-boy with uncertain
eye, the washerwoman, the hawkers and fruiterers, the loafing
strollers of both sexes--carrying everywhere color, abandon, a certain
picturesqueness and irresponsibility and good-nature, and a sense of
moral relaxation in a too strict and duty-ridden world.

In the morning, when Margaret looked from the windows of the hotel, the
sky was gray and yielding, and all the outlines of the looming buildings
were softened in the hazy air. The dome of the Capitol seemed to float
like a bubble, and to be as unsubstantial as the genii edifices in the
Arabian tale. The Monument, the slim white shaft as tall as the Great
Pyramid, was still more a dream creation, not really made of hard
marble, but of something as soft as vapor, almost melting into the
sky, and yet distinct, unwavering, its point piercing the upper air,
threatening every instant to dissolve, as if it were truly the baseless
fabric of a vision--light, unreal, ghost-like, spotless, pure as an
unsullied thought; it might vanish in a breath; and yet, no; it is
solid: in the mist of doubt, in the assault of storms, smitten by the
sun, beaten by the tempests, it stands there, springing, graceful,
immovable--emblem, let us say, of the purity and permanence of the
republic.

"You never half told me, Rodney, how beautiful it all is!" Margaret
exclaimed, in a glow of delight.

"Yes," said Henderson, "the Monument is behaving very well this morning.
I never saw it before look so little like a factory chimney."

"That is, you never looked at it with my eyes before, cynic. But it is
all so lovely, everywhere."

"Of course it is, dear." They were standing together at the window, and
his arm was where it should have been. "What did you expect? There are
concentrated here the taste and virtue of sixty millions of people."

"But you always said the Washington hotels were so bad. These apartments
are charming."

"Yes"--and he drew her closer to him--"there is no denying that. But
presently I shall have to explain to you an odd phenomenon. Virginia,
you know, used to be famous for its good living, and Maryland was simply
unapproachable for good cooking. It was expected when the District
was