ou did when you described it to me?" asked Rose, keeping sober with
difficulty as she recalled that serio-comic scene.

"Of course not, but I was advising her to read Prometheus when she gaped
behind her fan and began to talk about Phebe. What a 'nice creature' she
was, 'kept her place,' dressed according to her station, and that sort
of twaddle. I suppose it was rather rude, but being pulled up so short
confused me a bit, and I said the first thing that came into my head,
which was that I thought Phebe the best-dressed woman in the room
because she wasn't all fuss and feathers like most of the girls."

"Oh, Mac! That to Emma, who makes it the labor of her life to be always
in the height of fashion and was particularly splendid that night. What
did she say?" cried Rose, full of sympathy for both parties.

"She bridled and looked daggers at me."

"And what did you do?"

"I bit my tongue and tumbled out of one scrape into another. Following
her example, I changed the subject by talking about the charity concert
for the orphans, and when she gushed about the 'little darlings,' I
advised her to adopt one and wondered why young ladies didn't do that
sort of thing, instead of cuddling cats and lapdogs."

"Unhappy boy! Her pug is the idol of her life, and she hates babies,"
said Rose.

"More fool she! Well, she got my opinion on the subject, anyway, and
she's very welcome, for I went on to say that I thought it would not
only be a lovely charity, but excellent training for the time when they
had little darlings of their own. No end of poor things die through the
ignorance of mothers, you know," added Mac, so seriously that Rose dared
not smile at what went before.

"Imagine Emma trotting round with a pauper baby under her arm instead of
her cherished Toto," said Steve with an ecstatic twirl on the stool.

"Did she seem to like your advice, Monsieur Malapropos?" asked Rose,
wishing she had been there.

"No, she gave a little shriek and said, 'Good gracious, Mr. Campbell,
how droll you are! Take me to Mama, please,' which I did with a thankful
heart. Catch me setting her pug's leg again," ended Mac with a grim
shake of the head.

"Never mind. You were unfortunate in your listener that time. Don't
think all girls are so foolish. I can show you a dozen sensible ones who
would discuss dress reform and charity with you and enjoy Greek
tragedy if you did the chorus for them as you did for me," said Rose
consolingly, for