ose that don't play it had better not try,"
he observed. "Judgin' from what I saw to-night, if they do try they get
into trouble. That Lake woman was givin' that poor little bald-headed
fellow she was playin' with fits most of the time. Whenever they won
she patted herself on the back, and when they didn't she said it was
his fault. He ought to have 'echoed' or hollered back--or somethin'. One
time she put down a card and he put another kind of a one on it, and
she glared at him and said, 'Havin' no clubs?' and he had one that he'd
forgot. He spent the next ten minutes beggin' her pardon, but 'twas a
good thing SHE didn't have a club. She'd have used it on him if she
had. He was all shriveled up like a frostbitten cranberry when they got
through."

After they were in bed he said, "Serena, what was that black stuff they
had on the toast at the beginnin' of that supper? Looked like tar, but
it tasted kind of salty and good."

"Don't say supper, Daniel. It was a dinner. All city people have dinner
at night. That was caviar on the toast. I've read about it. It comes
from Russia."

Silence for a moment. Then Captain Dan said reflectively, "Caviar?
Caviar, eh? I've heard of that somewhere before; where was it? Yes, yes,
I know. 'Twas a caviar sandwich the waiter asked that young fellow I met
in the Rat Cellar to have. I never found out who that young fellow was,
and yet I know I've met him somewhere before. I wish I could remember
where it was. My memory is failin' me, I guess; must be gettin' old.
Can't you remember, Serena?"

But his wife bade him stop talking and go to sleep.

The next day there were more calls, and Serena was asked to attend a
committee meeting as a guest. She attended it and returned more full of
Chapter enthusiasm than ever. She announced that she might be asked to
prepare a paper to be read before the Chapter, and that she intended
to study and prepare for it. Study and prepare she did, and, between
dodging callers, or helping to entertain them, and keeping out of his
wife's way while she was busy with the encyclopedias which she had taken
from the library, the captain began to feel somewhat deserted. Hapgood's
company was too stately to be congenial, and Daniel sought refuge in the
kitchen, where Azuba, as usual, was always ready to talk.

Azuba was brimming over with the novelty of city life. She had been to
the theater once already since her arrival, and to the moving picture
show three times