of the subtle truths which baffle
the Gods and democracies alike. Central Avenue has long ago been
appropriated by the leading retail dry-goods shops, huge establishments
where everything from a set of drawing-room furniture to a hair-pin can
be bought under a single roof; but at that time it was the social
artery. Everything to the west was new and assertive; then came the
shops and the business centre; and to the east were Tom, Dick, and
Harry, Michael, Isaac and Pietro, the army of citizens who worked in the
mills, oil yards, and pork factories. And to the north, across the
river, on the further side of more manufacturing establishments, was
Poland, so-called--a settlement of the Poles--to reach whom now there
are seven bridges of iron. There were but two bridges then, one of wood,
and journeys across them had not yet been revealed to philanthropic
young women eager to do good.

Selma's house lay well to the south-west of Central Avenue, far enough
removed from the River Drive and the Flagg mansion to be humble and yet
near enough to be called looking up. Their row was complete and mainly
occupied, but the locality was a-building, and in the process of making
acquaintance. So many strangers had come to Benham that even Babcock
knew but few of their neighbors. Without formulating definitely how it
was to happen, Selma had expected to be received with open arms into a
society eager to recognize her salient qualities. But apparently, at
first glance, everybody's interest was absorbed by the butcher and
grocer, the dressmaker and the domestic hearth. That is, the other
people in their row seemed to be content to do as they were doing. The
husbands went to town every day--town which lay in the murky
distance--and their wives were friendly enough, but did not seem to be
conscious either of voids in their own existence or of the privilege of
her society. To be sure, they dressed well and were suggestive in that,
but they looked blank at some of her inquiries, and appeared to feel
their days complete if, after the housework had been done and the battle
fought with the hired girl, they were able to visit the shopping
district and pore over fabrics, in case they could not buy them. Some
were evidently looking forward to the day when they might be so
fortunate as to possess one of the larger houses of the district a mile
away, and figure among what they termed "society people." There were
others who, in their satisfaction with