nterest is sustained by conflict; complete agreement makes
conversation a superfluity. Their conversation rarely descended to small
talk, though more than once it became almost a quarrel.

A quarrel of friends, be it understood,--a quarrel that left no
bitterness behind, but made the next meeting more stored with interest,
explanation, withdrawal, even partial conversion. Their chief debatable
country was the stage; and at last Lionel had the happiness of winning
the admission that the stage had possibly improved of recent years. A
great admission for her! He paid his debt handsomely by a promise to
read a book (five hundred and thirty-seven pages, eight volumes) on
Christian Science. She gave him the book next day. Alas! it now reposes
in the present historian's drawer, the leaves still innocent of the
paper-knife.

So a pretty comradeship sprang up between a cloistered lady and an
ineligible worldling. The latter had never a penny, had not so long ago
vowed himself to the service of another, declared upon his honor that
his heart was no one's, lived for the moment on a false-won hospitality.
What would be the end of such a revolting character? A queer sort of
hero, in very truth; but the world is an asylum of lunatics seeking
happiness by a host of roads. You who condemn the road of Lionel are
asked to remember the stony paths he had trodden without complaint. Let
him settle any difficulties of conscience for himself, and be not too
hasty in your judgments. Let him at least have his fortnight of
so-called happiness. If it be not in accordance with your ideas of the
summum bonum, remember that it is not his. A fortnight in an oasis need
not be grudged when the desert lies behind and before. If he has not
learned wisdom you may be sure that he will ere long. Rub your hands,
gentlemen, and look forward to a rare feast of disillusion and
disenchantment! Possibly there may be an exposure, disgrace, even a
prison if we are lucky and have patience. And if you can spare a little
pickle for the rod, be good enough to pass it up!

As for the other characters in this rural comedy--or melodrama if you
prefer it--their lives have been equally uneventful during the last
fortnight. Tony Wild and Mr. "Bangs" are still occupying rooms at The
Happy Heart, chafing at the lack of events. They have allowed it to be
understood that they are on a holiday, seeking peace. They have
thoroughly explored the neighborhood, and failed to find a