d suddenly turning to the
cheerful servant. 'Is that all we are to have to-day? I am dying of
hunger!'

A marvellous salmon trout made its appearance a moment later.

'Oh yes!' exclaimed the prima donna. 'I am fond of eating! You may
laugh at me if you like, Logotheti. I am perfectly indifferent!'

And she was. She did all sorts of things that surprised Margaret, and
when a dish of ortolans with a rich brown sauce was put before her, she
deliberately discarded her knife and fork altogether and ate with her
hands. By way of terminating the operation, she stuck every finger of
each hand into her mouth as far as it would go, licked all ten
thoroughly, and then looked at them critically before drying them on
her napkin. By this time Margaret was past being surprised at anything.

'Logotheti says that in the East they all eat with their fingers,' the
singer observed.

'It is much cleaner,' Logotheti answered imperturbably.

Margaret uttered an involuntary exclamation of surprise.

'Of course it is!' he exclaimed. 'I know who washes my fingers. I don't
know who washes the forks, nor who used them last. If one stopped to
think about it, one would never use a fork or a spoon that was not
one's own or washed by oneself. I am sure that every sort of disease is
caught from other people's forks and spoons.'

'What a horrible idea!' exclaimed Margaret with disgust. 'I shall never
want to eat at a hotel or a restaurant again.'

'You will forget it,' replied Logotheti reassuringly. 'Civilisation
makes us forget a great many little things of the sort, I assure you!'

'But is there no way of protecting oneself?' Margaret asked.

'It is absurd!' cried Madame Bonanni. 'I don't believe in germs and
microbes and such silly things! If they exist we are full of them, and
I have no doubt they do us good.'

'It would be just as easy to boil the forks and spoons for ten minutes
in clean water, after they are washed,' observed Logotheti. 'But after
all, fingers are safer.'

'Things taste better with fingers,' said Madame Bonanni thoughtfully.

'In the East,' Logotheti answered, 'people pour water on their hands
after each course. Why don't you try that?'

'I wash my hands afterwards; it is less trouble.'

Logotheti laughed, but Margaret was disgusted, and did not even smile.
Madame Bonanni's proceedings had made an impression on her which it
would be hard to forget, and she sat silent for a while, not tasting
what followed.