Judge's attitude I gathered that he was commencing to
celebrate the birthday of some famous man or the anniversary of a great
battle. He never drank otherwise. To-day, he informed me, he was tanking
up in honor of Bolivar, the great South American Liberator.

"'Ah, Bolivar! Great man, Bolivar! Waiter!'

"'Yes, sir!'

"'The same!'

"From Miss de Dear, 'midst smiles and tears, I gleaned that she had once
adorned the stage, pursued always by the jealousy of her less-talented
sisters. Heaven knows she couldn't help the gifts of Nature which had
come to her through no effort of her own--her birthright. The de Dears
were all that way, as far back as Sir Something-or-the-other de Dear who
came over with the Conqueror--and her mother's first cousin went to the
Philadelphia Assembly--how could she help it? _Noblesse Oblige!_ All the
girls were jealous--the cats! Anyhow, she had quit the scene of her
early triumphs, lured by the attractive offer of a vaudeville manager.
In this new field she appeared for a short time; but when on the roof
they put her on the programme sandwiched between a troup of performing
dogs and a bunch of bum acrobats--she kicked! Any self-respecting
artiste would have done the same! I agreed with her. She, too, like the
Montgomerys, and other noble families, had been caught in the Knicknack
disaster, and her savings swept away; and rather than be dependent upon
the bounty of an immensely wealthy English aunt, she had consented to
represent a great New York publishing house.

"'The World's Famous Fat Men,' twenty volumes; cloth, levant, or
half-calf; ten dollars down, and a dollar a month far into the hazy
future. Of course this was hardly the place to talk business, she said,
but I had her card and knew where to find her. Every one should have the
work. All the best people in New York, Philadelphia, Sioux City, and
other places were putting it into their libraries, and so on, and so on.

"This flotsam and jetsam of her talk came to me from time to time as
confidential asides from the main flow of palaver which rolled along
steadily toward the Judge. The Judge, poor fellow, showed plainly the
effects of the struggle; so much so, that I suggested a stroll up the
Boardwalk.

"We arose with an effort, and went out to meet the bracing air.

"'Ah, the thea, the thea; the dear, dear thea! Always tho--er--wet and
rethleth. I inherit a love for the water from my father's great uncle
who was an Admiral in t