know them, how they walk about the piazza; their tall, lithe forms, the
counterpart of the gondolier; their splendid black hair, elaborately
braided and pierced with large ornaments; their noble, aristocratic,
grave features; their long shawls! What natural dignity! What eloquent
eyes! I like to imagine them profoundly intellectual, which they are
unhappily not."

Marsh had withdrawn from colloquy with the Germans, and kept glancing
across the table at his compatriots, obviously wishing that he might
join them. Mallard, upon whom Elgar's excited talk jarred more and
more, noticed the stranger's looks, and at length leaned forward to
speak to him.

"As usual, we are in a minority among the sun-worshippers."

"Sun-worshippers! Good!" laughed the other. "Yes, I have never met more
than one or two chance Englishmen at the 'Sole.'"

"But you are at your case with our friends there.--I think you know as
little German as I do, Elgar?"

"Devilish bad at languages! To tell you the truth, I can't endure the
sense of inferiority one has in beginning to smatter with foreigners. I
read four or five, but avoid speaking as much as possible."

Marsh took an early opportunity of alluding to the argument in which he
had recently taken part. The subject was resumed. At Elgar's bidding
the waiter had brought cigars, and things looked comfortable; the
Germans talked with more animation than ever.

"One of the worst evils of democracy in England," said Reuben,
forcibly, "is its alliance with Puritan morality."

"Oh, that is being quickly outgrown," cried Marsh. "Look at the spread
of rationalism."

"You take it for granted that Puritanism doesn't survive religious
dogma? Believe me, you are greatly mistaken. I am sorry to say I have a
large experience in this question. The mass of the English people have
no genuine religious belief, but none the less they are Puritans in
morality. The same applies to the vastly greater part of those who even
repudiate Christianity."

"One must take account of the national hypocrisy," remarked the younger
man, with an air of superiority, shaking his head as his habit was.

"It's a complicated matter. The representative English bourgeois is a
hypocrite in essence, but is perfectly serious in his judgment of the
man next door; and the latter characteristic has more weight than the
former in determining his life. Puritanism has aided the material
progress of England; but its effect on art! But for