t her first remark labels her.
Just to test her, for there is something in the animation of her face
and the farawayness of the eye that makes you suspect her sincerity, you
say:

"I happen to have six children--"

"Oh, how perfectly dee-ar! How old are they?"

She scans the gown of a woman who has just entered the room and, being
quite sure that she is engaged in a mental valuation of it, you say:

"They're all of them six."

"Oh, how lovely!" Her unseeing eyes look you in the face. "Just the
right age to be companions."

"Yes, all but one."

The eye has wandered to another gown, but the sympathetic voice says:

"Oh, what a pi-i-ty!"

"Yes, isn't it? But he's quite healthy."

It's a game now--fair game--and you're glad you came to the tea!

"Healthy, you say? How nice. It's perfectly lovely to be healthy. Do you
live in the country?"

"Not exactly the country. We live in Madison Square, under the trees."

"Oh, how perfectly idyllic!"

"Yes; we have all the advantages of the city and the delights of the
country. I got a permit from the Board of Education to put up a little
bungalow alongside the Worth monument, and the children bathe in the
fountain every morning when the weather is cold enough."

"Oh, how charming! How many children have you?"

"Only seven. The oldest is five and the youngest is six."

"Just the interesting age. Don't you think children fascinating?"

Again the roaming eye and the vivacious smile.

"Yes, indeed. My oldest--he's fourteen and quite original. He says that
when he grows up he doesn't know what he'll be."

"Really? How cute!"

"Yes, he says it every morning, a half-hour before breakfast."

"Fancy! How old did you say he was?"

"Just seventeen, but perfectly girl-like and masculine."

She nods her head, bows to an acquaintance in a distant part of the
room, and murmurs in musical, sympathetic tones:

"That's an adorable age."

"What, thirteen?"

"Yes. Did you say it was a girl?"

"Yes, his name's Ethel. He's a great help to her mother."

"Little darling."

"Yes; I tell them there may be city advantages, but I think they're much
better off where they are."

"Where did you say you were?"

"On the Connecticut shore. You see, having only the one child, Mrs.
Smith is very anxious that it should grow up healthy" (absent-minded
nods indicative of full attention), "and so little Ronald never comes to
the city at all. He plays with the fisherman's child and g