spread over his homely face. Even the store eye seemed to be
sparklin' brighter'n ever.

Was he there? Why, as we goes in to dinner at eight o'clock, I catches
sight of him and Hermy holdin' down chairs in the reception room. Well,
you know how they pull off them affairs. After they've stowed away about
eleventeen courses, from grapefruit and sherry to demitasse and
benedictine, them that can leave the table without wheel chairs wanders
out into the front rooms, and the men light up fresh perfectos and hunt
for the smokin' den, and the women get together in bunches and exchange
polite knocks. And in the midst of all that some one drifts casually up
to the concert grand and cuts loose. That was about the programme in this
case.

Hermy was all primed for his cue, and when Mrs. Purdy-Pell gives the nod
I sees Snick push him through the door, and in another minute the thing
is on. The waiter's uniform was a tight fit, all right; for it stretches
across his shoulders like a drumhead. And the shirt studs wa'n't mates,
and the collar was one of them saw edged laundry veterans. But the
general effect was good, and Hermy don't seem to mind them trifles at
all. He stands up there lookin' big and handsome, simpers and smiles
around the room a few times, giggles a few at the young lady who'd
volunteered to do the ivory punishing, and then fin'lly he gets under way
with the Toreador song.

As I say, when it comes to gems from Carmen, I'm no judge; but this stab
of Hermy's strikes me from the start as a mighty good attempt. He makes a
smooth, easy get-away, and he strikes a swingin', steady gait at the
quarter, and when he comes to puttin' over the deep, rollin' chest notes
I has feelin's down under the first dinner layer like I'd swallowed a
small thunder storm. Honest, when he fairly got down to business and
hittin' it up in earnest, he had me on my toes, and by the look on
Sadie's face I knew that our friend Hermy was going some.

But was all the others standin' around with their mouths open, drinkin'
it in? Anything but! You see, some late comers had arrived, and they'd
brought bulletins of something rich and juicy that had just happened in
the alimony crowd,--I expect the event will figure on the court calendars
later,--and they're so busy passin' on the details to willin' ears, that
Hermy wa'n't disturbin' 'em at all. As a matter of fact, not one in ten
of the bunch knew whether he was makin' a noise like a bullfighter or a