importance that an engaged girl should have, and to
cap her triumphs, Mrs. Bowman gave one of her tremendous dinners, with
twenty-four covers, her second-best gold service, and a dance afterward
in the picture gallery. All in honor of obscure little Milly Ridge! She
had arrived.

She might look down the long, heavily laden table with the men-servants
inserting the courses between the guests, and scan the faces of
prominent citizens and their wives together with a few minor
diplomats--for this was the great summer of '93--and feel a pardonable
elation in her position. On her right sat that Mr. George Danner, the
wealthy merchant whose equipage with two men on the box she had once
admired, and on her left was the kindly, homely face of old Christian
Becker, the owner of _The Daily Star_. (You may be sure that the _Star_
had a full account of this function. But Milly's name appeared so
frequently in Madame Alpha's social column that it had almost lost
interest for her.)... At the other end of the table next to the
hostess's expansive person sat the Instrument of Accomplishment, like a
very refined little white mouse, his keen eyes taking in every gold fork
on the table. His mouth was often open, and Milly imagined she could
hear the familiar, "Well now, I don't know about that." However, his
hostess seemed to treat him with consideration.

* * * * *

It should be said to Milly's credit that she took rather less
satisfaction in all this social flattery than in the happiness her
engagement brought into the little Acacia Street house. Horatio began to
chirp once more, after the interview with his prospective son-in-law.
The inspissated gloom of the days of stringency had passed. The golden
beams of prosperity seemed to radiate from the white-faced financier.

"I tell you Clarence is a smart one," Horatio announced after the first
interview. "He gave me some good pointers." For after the embarrassing
formalities of sentiment had been disposed of, the two men had naturally
dropped into business, and Parker had suggested a method of inserting
the tea and coffee business into the Exposition by getting concessions
for "Coffee Kiosks," which should advertise the Ridge brands of harmless
stimulants. The scheme had fired Horatio, who began once more to dream
dreams of wealth.

So when the ring came, which like everything else about Clarence Albert
was plain, costly, correct--and unlovely--Milly put