the jag serum, and with that
inoculate all the rounders on Broadway at so much per inoc. Then they
can stand up in front of an onyx bar and guzzle till it oozes out of
their ears, without any worse effects than a lifting pain in the right
elbow."

This time the laugh came more slowly, for here was a lot of language
which, though refreshing, was tangled in knots that must be unraveled.
Nevertheless, the laugh came, and at the sound of it Wallingford
involuntarily pressed slightly against his side the hand that lay upon
his arm. They were passing Hen Moozer's General Merchandise Emporium
and Post-Office at the time, and upon the rickety porch, its posts,
benches, and even floors whittled like a huge Rosetta stone, sat a
group of five young men. Just after the couple had cleared the end of
the porch a series of derisive meows broke out. It was the old protest
of town boy against city boy, of work clothes against "Sunday duds,"
of native against alien; and again J. Rufus harked back. It only
provoked a smile in him, but he felt a sudden tenseness in the hand
that lay upon his arm, and he was relieved when Bob and Molly, a half
block ahead of them, turned hastily down a delightfully dark and shady
cross street, in the shelter of which Bob immediately slipped his arm
around Molly's waist. J. Rufus, pondering that movement and regarding
it as the entirely conventional and proper one, essayed to do
likewise; but Miss Fannie, discussing the unpleasant habit of her
young townsmen with some indignation but more sense of humor, gently
but firmly unwound J. Rufus' arm, placed it at his side and slipped
her hand within it again without the loss of a syllable.

Wallingford was surprised at himself. In the old days he would have
fought out this issue and would have conquered. Now, however,
something had made this bold young man of the world suddenly tame. He
himself helped Miss Fannie to put him back upon grounds of friendly
aloofness, and with a gasp he realized that for the first time in his
life he had met a girl who had forced his entire respect. It was
preposterous!

Unaccountably, however, they seemed to grow more friendly after that,
and the talk drifted to J. Rufus himself, the places he had seen, the
adventures he had encountered, the richness of luxury that he had
sought and found, and the girl listened with breathless eagerness.
They did not go back to Maple Street just now, for the Maple Street
parade was only for the