n: THE MEN]

Every one in Town who carried a Pound of Social Influence showed up in
his or her Other Clothes. Extra Chairs had to be brought in, and what
with the Smilax and Club Colors it was very Swell, and the Maiden in the
Lace Mitts who was going to write about it for the Weekly threw a couple
of Spasms.

The Men were led in pulling at the Halters and with their Ears laid
back. After they got into the Dressing Room they Stuck there until they
had to be Shooed out. They did not know what they were going against,
but they had their Suspicions. They managed to get Rear Seats or stand
along the Wall so that they could execute the Quiet Sneak if Things got
too Literary. The Women were too Flushed and Proud to Notice.

At 8:30 P.M. the Lady President stood out and began to read a few Pink
Thoughts on "Woman's Destiny--Why Not?" Along toward 9:15, about the
time the Lady President was beginning to show up Good and Earnest,
Josephine Beadle, who was Circulating around on the Outskirts of the
Throng to make sure that everybody was Happy, made a Discovery. She
noticed that the Men standing along the Wall and in the Doorways were
not more than sixty per cent En Rapport with the Long Piece about
Woman's Destiny. Now Josephine was right there to see that Everybody had
a Nice Time, and she did not like to see the Prominent Business Men of
the Town dying of Thirst or Leg Cramp or anything like that, so she gave
two or three of them the Quiet Wink, and they tiptoed after her out to
the Dining Room, where she offered Refreshments, and said they could
slip out on the Side Porch and Smoke if they wanted to.

[Illustration: LADY PRESIDENT]

Probably they preferred to go back in the Front Room and hear some more
about Woman's Destiny not.

As soon as they could master their Emotions and get control of their
Voices, they told Josephine what they thought of her. They said she made
the Good Samaritan look like a Cheap Criminal, and if she would only say
the Word they would begin to put Ground Glass into the Food at Home.
Then Josephine called them "Boys," which probably does not make a Hit
with one who is on the sloping side of 48. More of the Men seemed to
awake to the Fact that they were Overlooking something, so they came on
the Velvet Foot back to the Dining Room and declared themselves In, and
flocked around Josephine and called her "Josie" and "Joe." They didn't
care. They were having a Pleasant Visit.

Josephine gave them A