strong. Between
bites of sandwich, with a marshmallow now and then, she was saying that
she was simply crazy about the war, having the dandiest young French
soldier for a godson and sending him packages of food and cigarettes
constantly, and all the girls of her set had one, and wasn't it the
darlingest idea.

And her soldier was only twenty-two, though his beard made him look more
mature, and he wrote such dandy letters, but she didn't suppose there
would ever be anything between them because papa was too busy with his
coal yard to take her over there.

As the girl chattered on it didn't seem to me that our Latin Quarter was
in the slightest danger from her. Still, some of the girls that was there
seemed quite impressed or buffaloed by her manner. One idea she give out
now was new in Red Gap. She had all her rings named after meals. She had
a breakfast ring and a dinner ring and a supper ring and a banquet ring,
and Daisy Estelle Maybury admired the necklace she had on, and Dulcie
said that was a mere travelling necklace; and how did they like this cute
little restaurant frock she was wearing? A little dressmaker over on
Amsterdam Avenue had turned it out. All the parties she dealt with,
apparently, was little. She had a little dressmaker and a little hair
woman and a little manicure and a little florist, and so forth. She'd
et five cream-cheese sandwiches by this time, in spite of its being quite
painful for her to pick up a dropped napkin. Dulcie didn't fold over
good. You could tell here was a girl that had never tried to get away
from it all. She wanted to be right where it was.

Pretty soon one of the girls said something about the Bohemians of the
Latin Quarter, probably aiming to show this New York chatterbox that Red
Gap wasn't so far west as it looked. But Dulcie gave 'em the laugh. She
said oh, dear, New York society had simply quit taking up Bohemians, it
not being considered smart any longer, and did we really take them up
here? The girls backed up at this. And Dulcie went on being superior. She
said of course society people now and then made up a party and went down
to Washington Square to look them over, but as for taking them up, oh,
dear, no! It was more like a slumming party. One could stare at them,
but one simply didn't know them.

And perhaps, if she could get Aunt Cora to chaperon them, they might make
up one of these slumming parties some evening and go down to Red Gap's
Latin Quarter; it migh