Mrs.Bruce had left town the day before, and in the absence of any new admiration he always fell back with perfect content upon his old allegiance.

Mrs.Upjohn received his devotion as calmly as his intermittent neglects, and only raised her eyebrows when he stooped to whisper, "My love, you're the most handsomely dressed woman here!" which was strictly true as regarded the materials of her attire, and unblushingly false as regarded the blending of them.

Dick had been in his element all the evening.

He had had a serio-comic flirtation with every girl in turn.

He had cut out Jake Dexter with Nellie Atterbury, and made it up to his friend by offering him a lock of Bell's hair, which he had surreptitiously cut from her hanging braids, and which Jake wore pinned in his button hole as a trophy for the rest of the evening, to the immense scandal of everybody.