acquaintances you heard of similar incredible things; a tiny
antique Persian rug, which could be folded into an overcoat pocket, for
ten thousand dollars; a set of five "art fans," each blade painted by a
famous artist and costing forty-three thousand dollars; a crystal cup
for eighty thousand; an edition de luxe of the works of Dickens for a
hundred thousand; a ruby, the size of a pigeon's egg, for three hundred
thousand. In some of these great New York palaces there were fountains
which cost a hundred dollars a minute to run; and in the harbour there
were yachts which cost twenty thousand a month to keep in commission.

And that same day, as it chanced, he learned of a brand-new kind of
squandering. He went home to lunch with Mrs. Winnie Duval, and there
met Mrs. Caroline Smythe, with whom he had talked at Castle Havens.
Mrs. Smythe, whose husband had been a well-known Wall Street plunger,
was soft and mushy, and very gushing in manner; and she asked him to
come home to dinner with her, adding, "I'll introduce you to my babies."

From what Montague had so far seen, he judged that babies played a very
small part in the lives of the women of Society; and so he was
interested, and asked, "How many have you?"

"Only two, in town," said Mrs. Smythe. "I've just come up, you see."

"How old are they?" he inquired politely; and when the lady added,
"About two years," he asked, "Won't they be in bed by dinner time?"

"Oh my, no!" said Mrs. Smythe. "The dear little lambs wait up for me. I
always find them scratching at my chamber door and wagging their little
tails."

Then Mrs. Winnie laughed merrily and said, "Why do you fool him?" and
went on to inform Montague that Caroline's "babies" were griffons
Bruxelloises. Griffons suggested to him vague ideas of dragons and
unicorns and gargoyles; but he said nothing more, save to accept the
invitation, and that evening he discovered that griffons Bruxelloises
were tiny dogs, long-haired, yellow, and fluffy; and that for her two
priceless treasures Mrs. Smythe had an expert nurse, to whom she paid a
hundred dollars a month, and also a footman, and a special cuisine in
which their complicated food was prepared. They had a regular dentist,
and a physician, and gold plate to eat from. Mrs. Smythe also owned two
long-haired St. Bernards of a very rare breed, and a fierce Great Dane,
and a very fat Boston bull pup--the last having been trained to go for
an airing all alone in her car