"'A _difference'!_" Gray flung aloft his hands in exaggerated despair.
"Heaven help me! I am inspired; I have a flash of genius, a divine impulse, and with a magic pass I work a miracle.

I transform you from something somber, dark, morose, into a creature of life, of passion, of allurement." He groaned.

"And you stand there like a stalagmite.

Why, girl, _look_ at yourself!" "Darned if she don't look like a pitcher I seen som'er's--on an almanac," Gus declared.
"Aha! A man with a soul! A human being who sees beauty where I see it.
An artist with my fire!" Gray burst into infectious laughter, and the others joined him.
This proved to be an evening when people really did turn their heads as the Briskows were shown to their table, but for once Allie suffered no embarrassment, for she felt sure they were looking at Calvin Gray, and in the shining glory of his presence she knew that she and her parents were invisible.
It was the sort of situation in which Gray appeared to best advantage, so he talked incessantly during the meal, and in a key that kept his companions unconscious of their surroundings.

On their way out they passed the entrance to the ballroom and paused to look in.