hem; but it's the cream of
Albany."

"Everything else is skim milk, I suppose?"

Mrs. Shelby eluded the classification.

"Nearly all that's socially significant is grouped thereabouts," she
pursued; "the cathedral, the Beverwyck Club, Canon North, and Mrs.
Teunis Van Dam. The canon and Mrs. Van Dam are the keys to the social
citadel, I assure you. Probably you noticed them on the platform at
the Inauguration. Then, she helped me receive this afternoon, thanks
to a bit of diplomacy."

Bowers absorbed these esoteric deliverances in meekness.

"It takes a woman to bottom such things," he said admiringly. "I guess
you'll pass."

Cora herself harbored no doubts, but she disclaimed a single-handed
victory.

"I shouldn't know all these things yet if it were not for the
governor's military secretary, Colonel Schuyler Smith. Do you know
him?"

"I'm not sure that I can place the colonel," ruminated Bowers. "Is he
that blond young dandy whose sword got tangled in his legs?"

"Yes, poor dear! He's not used to wearing it yet. But he's a
treasure. He's Mrs. Teunis Van Dam's grandson, you know, and like her
is descended from all those delightful old Dutchmen who make such
enviable ancestors, and have stained glass windows in the cathedral.
He knows who is who, I assure you. Ex-Senator Ludlow does too, for
that matter; though he doesn't care for Mrs. Van Dam's circle. He
thinks it too stately and old regime. He goes with the younger
set--Mrs. Tommy Kidder's--and he says Mrs. Tommy is quite my own style."

The governor entered the room in the midst of these matters and
listened soberly. Shelby had taken on more years than his
congressional service spanned. His dark hair had grayed at the
temples; his old puffiness of jowl and dewlap had vanished; and the
strong bone framework of his head showed for what it truly was.
Tuscarora ancients, who remembered the pioneer, said that Shelby
favored his grandfather.

Bowers turned to him with a laugh.

"It's a mighty good thing you've got a skilled pilot in these waters,"
he said.

"Yes, Cora knows her way around," returned her husband. "I dare say
the world's a brighter place for this varnish, though I've noticed that
when you scrape through it people average much alike. It's meant more
to me to-day to have you here, old friend, than the notables. You gave
me my start." He hesitated, glanced at his wife, and added: "But they
were all welcome. Cora has come in