bservations have been confined to society in its restricted sense;
I am not, I acknowledge, the mouth-piece of the rabble."

"Since you admit your ability to act as society's mouth-piece, how do
you define society?"

"Society is a limited liability company engaged in the production of
snobs. Formerly its shares were non-transferable, but financial straits
necessitated the placing of the common stock upon the open market; the
preferred stock, however, is still held by the heirs of the original
incorporators. The Anglo-Saxon company has its head office in London,
with agencies in the various cities of the United Kingdom, America, and
the Colonies; Albert Edward Guelph, Esq., is chairman of the executive
committee, and the most refined products of the corporation are sealed
and labeled by his own hand. There are two distinct stages in the
process of manufacture, called respectively toadying and snubbing, which
must be successfully undergone before the perfected article is obtained.
For instance, raw material is gathered at an American agency and after
passing through the first toady stages it is put through the more
intricate process of snubbing; then at a certain stage of maturity it is
sent to the London office to be again subjected to a more refined toady
process. Unfortunately the American material, being supplied by
purchasers of the common stock, can never reach a more refined stage,
so, after receiving the toady _cachet_ of the chairman, it goes back to
America again where it is put upon the market as a superior imported
article."

"Then I am to infer, Mr. Grahame," Florence replied sarcastically, "that
an American is doomed always to remain a toady, and can never hope to
attain the distinction of being a full-fledged snob. I do not think your
prospectus is sufficiently attractive to induce me to purchase stock, at
least, not until the native industry is sufficiently thriving to
manufacture the higher grades at home and exclude the foreign brands
from our market." Then she left him abruptly and walked toward a group
of girls who were discussing the coming "Patricians'" ball.

When a man of Duncan's nature receives a rebuff, he is amused or
angered, but not humiliated. Duncan regarded Florence's patriotism as a
mere pose, and her dislike of him he considered amusing; so when she
thus coolly left him, he merely laughed and turned away without being in
the slightest degree offended. As for Florence, she felt in no m