herson, with an upward toss of the chin.
Then, turning to Grey, she said, "And did you, too, like all the foreign
habits?"

"No, indeed," was Grey's reply. "Just think of having your coffee and
roll brought to you in the morning while you are in bed, and eating it
in the smelling room, without washing your hands, and then going to
sleep again. That is what I call very _narsty_, as the English say,
though they do not use the word in that sense."

"You forget that Miss McPherson is English," Mrs. Jerrold said, and the
lady in question at once rejoined:

"Never mind. I do not believe in spoiling a story for relation's sake,
or country's either, and I fully agree with Grey that the Continental
habit of breakfasting in bed, with unwashed face and hands, is a very
_nasty_ one, in the American sense of the word. I never did it, and
never would."

"You have been on the Continent, then?" Mr. Jerrold asked, and instantly
there came upon Miss McPherson's face an expression of bitter pain, as
if some sad memory had been stirred; then, quickly recovering herself,
she answered:

"Yes, I was at school in Paris a year, and traveled another year all
over Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. It may seem strange to Grey, who
probably cannot realize that I was ever young, to know that I, too, have
my Alpenstock as a voucher for the mountains I have climbed and the
chasms I have crossed. Did you go to Monte-Carlo?"

The question was addressed to Grey, who replied:

"Yes, we were there four days."

"Did you play?"

"No, I did not even see them play. They would not let me in; I was too
young, and I should not have played anyway, for I promised Aunt Lucy I
would not," Grey said, and Miss McPherson replied, with startling
vehemence:

"That's right, my boy! that's right! Never, never play for money so long
as you live. You have no idea what perils lurk around the gaming-table,
or what an accursed spot Monte-Carlo is, beautiful as it is to look at.
Those lovely grounds are haunted with the ghosts of the suicides who,
ruined body and soul, have rushed unprepared into the presence of their
Maker."

None of the guests had ever seen Miss McPherson so excited, and for a
moment there was silence while they gazed at her wonderingly, as she sat
with lips compressed and nostrils dilated, looking intently over their
heads at something they could not see, but which evidently was very
vivid to her.

Mrs. Geraldine was the first to speak, and she