bow gracefully to a mere man's edicts, always go
off and do as they jolly well please. In a sidestreet, not more than a
block and a half from the Avenue, our stout friend had unearthed a
purveyor of feminine adornment who, she explained to me, was a positive
worker of spells when it came to dressing a woman. Also, she was
moderate in her prices. The gown cost one hundred and sixty-five dollars
and the amount of change Frieda cascaded in my lap made me feel as if I
owned a bank. I expressed disbelief in the miraculous dressmaker and
made somber prophecies as to the outcome, all of which she treated with
contempt. At six o'clock they went off to her flat, where she had
prepared the light refection that would insure prompt digestion and easy
breathing. I was instructed to dine where I pleased.

At seven thirty-five came a knock at my door. It was Frieda.

"Dave," she said, "if you're having trouble with that white tie, we'll
fix it for you in a minute. Meanwhile, you're permitted to come in the
other room. She's got the dress on, I hooked it myself and did her
hair."

I followed her, eagerly. Both gaslights were flaming brightly. Eulalie
was circling around Frances, totally incapacitated by admiration. The
back was turned to me and the arms raised as she gave some mysterious
touch to the waves above her temples, but she turned at once and stood
before me, happily, with arms now held down and palms turned towards me,
in an attitude of graceful abandonment.

"Here's your gown, Dave," she said. "From head to foot you are
responsible, slippers and all."

I refuse to go to Frieda for a description of it. I care nothing about
displaying my ignorance and will say at once that I have not the
slightest idea of what the materials were. All I know is that she
looked like beauty and grace incarnate. The lily might be no better for
the gilding, but it displayed her charm to the full. The beautiful arms
were bare and the fair neck modestly displayed.

"Let me rub my eyes," I said, "it is another dream come to me."

"_Elle est belle comme un amour!_" clamored Eulalie.

She was indeed beautiful as a love, as the most splendid, honest,
faithful love ever born in a human heart.

And then she came to me and put up her hands and seized upon my
recalcitrant tie and gave it a twist and a turn, smiling at me the
while.

"You look ever so well, David," she told me. "You need take so little
trouble to make yourself look as young in bod