as saying things into my ear, under
cover of the orchestra and the loud hum of talk.

"This is a crowd," he commented. "This certainly is a crowd! Men of
millions, and men who don't know how they're going to meet the next note
due, but bluffing it through. Somebodies and nobodies. Kingfish and
minnows--and some of the kingfish are going to swallow the minnows at
the next gulp----What in the name of time is this we're eating now?"

I expressed my ignorance.

"And what's this we're to have with it?" he pursued. "Look out!"

He had known I would thank him for the warning. I shielded my glass from
an imminent bottle. It was the third time already, and the dinner was
not far on its way. I saw Hepatica shield hers--also for the third time.
A tiny flush was beginning to creep up Althea's cheeks. She had refused
only the first offering of the waiter.

The Promoter turned and viewed my empty glasses with ill-disguised
contempt. "We'll have to get you to stay in town long enough to overcome
those notions of yours," said he. "Look around you. I'll wager there's
not another in the room."

If I flushed it was not for either of the reasons which caused the
brilliant cheeks I saw all about me. "I think you are quite right," said
I, as I looked. I saw a garrulous lady at the table on my right, whose
high laughter was beginning to carry far; I observed a sleepy one at my
left, who had spilled champagne down the front of her elaborate corsage
and was nodding over her ices. I glanced at Hepatica. Her pretty head
was held high; her eyes, too, sparkled, but not with wine.

The Promoter began to talk of investments, telling stories of great
_coups_ made by men who had the daring.

"Not necessary for them to have the money, I suppose?" queried the
Philosopher.

"Not at all," agreed the Promoter. "Life's a game of poker. If you're
not afraid to sit in, and have the nerve to bluff it through, you can
win out with a hand that would make a quitter commit suicide."

Althea listened with pride to her husband's discourse. "He's a man of
the world," one could see she was thinking, "who is making the eyes drop
out of the heads of these simple people."

"I'm so impressed," said the Skeptic to me, "that I can hardly eat.
Think of living in a place like this--having this every day--common,
like the dust under your feet. Can I ever eat creamed codfish and
johnny-cake again, think you? Hepatica must name the hash by a French
name and serve me