lking in voices that all had a certain half-languid precision, a
slight but brisk pinching of sounds, as if determined not to tolerate a
drawl, and yet to have one. Most of them had field-glasses slung round
them, and cameras were dotted here and there about the room. Their faces
were not really much alike, but they all had a peculiar drooping smile,
and a particular lift of the eyebrows, that made them seem reproductions
of a single type. Their teeth, too, for the most part were a little
prominent, as though the drooping of their mouths had forced them
forward. They were eating as people eat who distrust the lower senses,
preferring not to be compelled to taste or smell.

"From our hotel," whispered Anna; and, ordering red wine and schnitzels,
she and the boy sat down. The lady who seemed in command of the English
party inquired now how Mr. Stormer was--he was not laid up, she hoped.
No? Only lazy? Indeed! He was a great climber, she believed. It seemed
to the boy that this lady somehow did not quite approve of them. The
talk was all maintained between her, a gentleman with a crumpled collar
and puggaree, and a short thick-set grey-bearded man in a dark Norfolk
jacket. If any of the younger members of the party spoke, the remark was
received with an arch lifting of the brows, and drooping of the lids, as
who should say: "Ah! Very promising!"

"Nothing in my life has given me greater pain than to observe the
aptitude of human nature for becoming crystallized." It was the lady in
command who spoke, and all the young people swayed their faces up
and down, as if assenting. How like they were, the boy thought, to
guinea-fowl, with their small heads and sloping shoulders and speckly
grey coats!

"Ah! my dear lady"--it was the gentleman with the crumpled collar--"you
novelists are always girding at the precious quality of conformity. The
sadness of our times lies in this questioning spirit. Never was there
more revolt, especially among the young. To find the individual judging
for himself is a grave symptom of national degeneration. But this is not
a subject--"

"Surely, the subject is of the most poignant interest to all young
people." Again all the young ones raised their faces and moved them
slightly from side to side.

"My dear lady, we are too prone to let the interest that things arouse
blind our judgment in regard to the advisability of discussing them. We
let these speculations creep and creep until they twine th