the second daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. She had inspired his
youthful poems, and now collaborated with him in several prose works,
as well as helped him materially in his master work, a biographical
edition of the works of Hawthorne. The fantastic conception of the
present story is reminiscent of the imaginative tales of his
father-in-law, but there is lacking the glamour of mysticism that
Hawthorne would have thrown around it. However, in aiming directly at
the moral sense of his readers, instead of approaching this through the
aesthetic sense, the obvious treatment of Lathrop gains in human
interest more than it loses in literary quality._

IN FACH OTHER'S SHOES
BY GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP
[Footnote: By permission of the publishers. From "True and Other
Stories" copyright, 1884, by Punk & Wagnalls.]

I

John Crombie had taken a room at the new apartment building, The Lorne;
having advanced so far in his experience of New York as to be aware
that if he could once establish himself in a house associated by name
with foreign places and titles his chance of securing "position" would
be greatly increased. He did not, however, take his meals in the
expensive cafe of that establishment, finding it more economical to go
to an outlandish little French restaurant, some distance away, which
had been nicknamed among those of his acquaintance who resorted to it
"The Fried Cat." This designation, based on a supposed resemblance to
the name of the proprietor, Fricat, was also believed to have value as
a sarcasm.

It was with no pleasant sensations, therefore, that Crombie, waking on
a gray and drizzling morning of November, remembered that he must hie
him to "The Fried Cat" for an early breakfast. He was in a hurry that
day; he had a great deal to do. His room was very small and dark; he
bounced up and dressed himself, in an obscure sort of way,
surreptitiously opening the door and reaching vaguely for his shoes,
which stood just outside, ready blacked. Nor did it add to his comfort
to know that the shoes were very defective as to their soles, and would
admit the water freely from the accumulated puddles of the sidewalks.
In fact, he had been ashamed to expose their bad condition to the
porter when he put them out every night, as he was forced to do, since
they were his only pair. Drawing them on hastily, in order to conceal
his mortification from even his own mind, he sallied forth; and though
at the moment of putting