n hers, and from time to time she will pick morsels
from it at her pleasure; and the reason that it does not hurt more is
because of the prettiness of her lips.

It is when one meets the mothers of these girls that one sees whence
comes their charm; an old-world queenliness of motherhood, mingling
with warm-hearted cordiality, renders them immediately as lovable as
their daughters.

The billion-dollar trust is very adollarable, and so is the Tobacco
and Standard Oil and the rest; but in the assets of the nation, more
valuable, to my mind, is the heirloom of the tradition of gentle
manners and cordial kindliness held so well in trust by the people of
that city of the South.

XIV

THE PENALTY OF THEIR PACE IN THE CITY OF UNREST

A dinner-party at Sherry's--twenty people sat around a table beautiful
with the choicest flowers--the room was full of diners; there was more
noise and clatter than one would hear even in the Carlton or Prince's;
and the Hungarian band was playing--seemed the suitable panting
life-breath of the scene--sensuous a little--strenuous--feverishly
restless. Bright, gay, quick, and keyed loudly in order to be audible,
were the voices of the diners; exchange of repartee, quick as the fire
of a pom-pom, was shot and returned. Well-aimed marksmanship it was,
too--no cartridges wasted. Flash of costly jewels or still brighter
eyes as the shots were sped at marks worth firing at and well capable
of replying. Men who had done things were there: the senator--a great
lawyer--several of America's greatest business men, and the women who
had helped or spurred or hindered them, but who were all worth working
for or helpfully hinderous blast-furnaces to ambition. But one seat
away was a man who was one of the greatest mine-owners in America, and
controlled railways that were connected and dependent on these mines.
Pale and sallow, with sparse hair over his big bulging forehead, power
and decision and resolution were stamped on every line of his face; a
small army of men worked for him--worked underground or on railroads,
or looked to him as the donor of dividends, the regulator of their
incomes, the arbiter of their financial destinies.

He drank no wine at dinner, yet now and again a curious up-and-down
lifting movement of the table could be traced to one of his knees,
which he kept crossed over the other. He waved away the coffee with
the remark that it was years since he dared indulge in it; but wh