cles. He had
been so ignorant of such circles as to suppose they would have some use
for him as a brilliant young author; and though he was outwearing this
illusion, he still would not have liked a girl like Julia Macroyd, whose
family, if not smart, was at least chic, to know that he had come to
the house with a professional mistress of the revels, until Miss Shirley
should have approved herself chic, too. The notion of such an employment
as hers was in itself chic, but the girl was merely a paid part of the
entertainment, as yet, and had not risen above the hireling status. If
she had sunk to that level from a higher rank it would be all right,
but there was no evidence that she had ever been smart. Verrian
would, therefore, rather not be mixed up with her--at any rate, in the
imagination of a girl like Julia Macroyd; and as he left her side he
drew a long breath of relief and went and put down his teacup where he
had got it.

By this time the girl who was "pouring" had exhausted one of the two
original guards on whom she had been dividing her vision, and Verrian
made a pretence, which she favored, that he had come up to push the man
away. The man gracefully submitted to be dislodged, and Verrian remained
in the enjoyment of one of the girl's distorted eyes till, yet another
man coming up, she abruptly got rid of Verrian by presenting him to yet
another girl. In such manoeuvres the hour of afternoon tea will pass;
and the time really wore on till it was time to dress for dinner.

By the time that the guests came down to dinner they were all able to
participate in the exchange of the discovery which each had made, that
it was snowing outdoors, and they kept this going till one girl had the
good-luck to say, "I don't see anything so astonishing in that at this
time of year. Now, if it was snowing indoors, it would be different."

This relieved the tension in a general laugh, and a young man tried
to contribute further to the gayety by declaring that it would not be
surprising to have it snow in-doors. He had once seen the thing done
in a crowded hall, one night, when somebody put up a window, and the
freezing current of air congealed the respiration of the crowd, which
came down in a light fall of snow-flakes. He owned that it was in
Boston.

"Oh, that excuses it, then," Miss Macroyd said. But she lost the laugh
which was her due in the rush which some of the others made to open a
window and see whether it could be