lly the height, of his acquaintance.
If he had only been presented to Mrs. Manorhouse, and she had repeated
her stock witticism in his presence, Millard knew how to quote it as a
remark of Mrs. Manorhouse, but the repose of his manner left the
impression that he set no particular store by the Manorhouses. He early
learned the inestimable value of a chastened impudence to a man with
social ambitions.

Some sacrifice of self-respect? Doubtless. But what getter-on in the
world is there that does not have to pay down a little self-respect now
and then? Your millionaire usually settles at a dear rate, and to be a
great statesman implies that one has paid a war tariff in this specie.

One of the talents that contributed to Millard's success was a knack of
taking accomplishments quickly. Whether it was fencing, or boxing, or
polo that was the temporary vogue; whether it was dancing, or speaking
society French, he held his own with the best. In riding he was easily
superior to the riding-school cavaliers, having the advantage of
familiarity with a horse's back from the time he had bestrode the
plow-horses on their way to water. Though he found time in his first
years in New York for only one little run in Europe, he always had the
air of a traveled man, so quickly did he absorb information, imitate
fashions, and get rid of provincial manners and prejudices. His friends
never knew where he learned anything. When a Frenchman of title was
basking in New York drawing-rooms it was found that Millard was equal to
a tete-a-tete with the monolingual foreigner, though his accent was
better than his vocabulary was copious. His various accomplishments of
course represented many hours of toil, but it was toil of which his
associates never heard. He treated himself as a work of art, of which
the beholder must judge only by the charming result, with no knowledge
of the foregoing effort, no thought of the periods of ugly
incompleteness that have been passed on the way to perfection.

III.

A SPONTANEOUS PEDIGREE.

It was not until the battle was more than half won, and Millard had
become a welcome guest in some of the most exclusive houses, that he was
outfitted with a pedigree. He knew little of his ancestors except that
his father's grandfather was a humble private soldier at the storming of
Stony Point. This great-grandfather's name was Miller. Dutch or German
neighbors had called him Millerd by some confusion with other names