s shoulder.

"Nothing sets me up like a game of poker, old man. Been on the building
all day. You ought to come up with me some time--I'll show you the
greatest piece of steel construction you ever saw. Mr. Morris was all
over it to-day. Oh, by the way! Did that old chunk of sandstone come up
to see you last night? What did you say his name was?"

Jack repeated Peter's cognomen--this time without rolling the syllables
under his tongue--said that Mr. Grayson had kept his promise; that the
evening had been delightful, and immediately changed the subject. There
was no use trying to convert Garry.

"And now tell me about the supper," asked Jack.

"Oh, that was all right. We whooped it up till they closed the bar and
then went home with the milk. Had an awful head on me next morning;
nearly fell off the scaffold, I was so sleepy. How's Miss Corinne? I'm
going to stop in on my way uptown this afternoon and apologize to her.
I have her note, but I haven't had a minute to let her know why I didn't
come. I'll show her the ring; then she'll know why. Saw it, didn't you?"

Jack hadn't seen it. He had been too excited to look. Now he examined
it. With the flash of the gems Biffy sat up straight, and the others
craned their heads. Garry slipped it off his finger for the hundredth
time for similar inspections, and Jack utilized the pause in the
conversation to say that Corinne had received the note and that in reply
she had vented most of her disappointment on himself, a disclosure which
sent a cloud across Garry's face.

The cocktail hour had now arrived--one hour before dinner, an hour which
was fixed by that distinguished compounder of herbs and spirits, Mr.
Biffton--and the room began filling up. Most of the members were young
fellows but a few years out of college, men who renewed their Society
and club life within its walls; some were from out of town--students in
the various professions. Here and there was a man of forty--one even
of fifty-five--who preferred the gayer and fresher life of the younger
generation to the more solemn conclaves of the more exclusive clubs
further up and further down town. As is usual in such combinations, the
units forming the whole sought out their own congenial units and were
thereafter amalgamated into groups, a classification to be found in all
clubs the world over. While Biffy and his chums could always be found
together, there were other less-fortunate young fellows, not only
without co