ng that he would have to begin at the beginning, he
proceeded to explain that Reggie Mann was a cotillion leader, the idol
of the feminine side of society. He was the special pet and protege of
the great Mrs. de Graffenried, of whom they had surely heard--Mrs. de
Graffenried, who was acknowledged to be the mistress of society at
Newport, and was destined some day to be mistress in New York. Reggie
and Oliver were "thick," and he had stayed in town on purpose to attend
to her attiring--having seen her picture, and vowed that he would make
a work of art out of her. And then Mrs. Robbie Walling would give her a
dance; and all the world would come to fall at her feet.

"You and I are going out to 'Black Forest,' the Wallings'
shooting-lodge, to-morrow," Oliver added to his brother. "You'll meet
Mrs. Robbie there. You've heard of the Wallings, I hope."

"Yes," said Montague, "I'm not that ignorant."

"All right," said the other, "we're to motor down. I'm going to take
you in my racing-car, so you'll have an experience. We'll start early."

"I'll be ready," said Montague; and when his brother replied that he
would be at the door at eleven, he made another amused note as to the
habits of New Yorkers.

The price which he paid at the hotel included the services of a valet
or a maid for each of them, and so when their baggage arrived they had
nothing to do. They went to lunch in one of the main dining-rooms of
the hotel, a room with towering columns of dark-green marble and a maze
of palms and flowers. Oliver did the ordering; his brother noticed that
the simple meal cost them about fifteen dollars, and he wondered if
they were to eat at that rate all the time.

Then Montague mentioned the fact that before leaving home he had
received a telegram from General Prentice, asking him to go with him
that evening to the meeting of the Loyal Legion. Montague wondered,
half amused, if his brother would deem his old clothing fit for such a
function. But Oliver replied that it would not matter what he wore
there; he would not meet anyone who counted, except Prentice himself.
The General and his family were prominent in society, it appeared, and
were to be cultivated. But Oliver shrewdly forbore to elaborate upon
this, knowing that his brother would be certain to talk about old
times, which would be the surest possible method of lodging himself in
the good graces of General Prentice.

After luncheon came Reggie Mann, dapper and exquis