rigged china, and set out
wine in her great-grandfather's long-necked decanter, and, with what
she considered a gracious tact, overlooked the flippancy of her guest's
desultory conversation, and sincerely tried to discover the humorous
quality in her conversation that forced a subdued chuckle now and then
from her listener.

She confided most of her schemes to him, sometimes unconsciously, and
grew to depend more than she knew upon his common sense and experience;
for, though openly cynical of her works, he would give her what she
often realized to be the best of practical advice, and his amusing
generalities, though to her mind insults to humanity, had been so
bitterly proved true that she looked fearfully to see his lightest
adverse prophecy fulfilled.

After a cautious introduction of the subject by asking his advice as
to the minimum of hours in the week one could conscientiously allow a
doubtful member of the Weekly Culture Club to spend upon Browning, she
endeavored to get his idea of that poet. Her famous theory as to
her ability to place any one satisfactorily in the scale of culture
according to his degree of appreciation of "Rabbi ben Ezra"
was unfortunately known to her lodger before she could with any
verisimilitude produce the book, and he was wary of committing himself.
The exquisite effrontery with which she finally brought out her
gray-green volume was only equalled by the forbearing courtesy with
which he welcomed both it and her. Nor did he offer any other comment on
her opening the book at a well-worn page than an apologetic removal to
the only chair in the room more comfortable than the one he was at the
time occupying. He listened in silence to her intelligent if somewhat
sonorous rendering of selected portions of "Saul," thanking her politely
at the close, and only stipulating that he should be allowed to return
the favor by a reading from one of his own favorite poets. With a
shocked remembrance of certain yellow-covered volumes she had often
cleared away from the piazza, Miss Gould inquired if the poet in
question were English. On his hearty affirmative she resigned herself
with no little interest to the opportunity of seeing her way more
clearly into this baffling mind, horrified at his criticism of the
second reading--for she had brought the "Rabbi" forward at last,

"Then welcome each rebuff
That turns earth's smoothness rough,
Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand, but go!