But, by way of compensation, I am not difficult to please.

To a simple play, adjusted to my primitive taste, I can bring a certain bucolic appreciation that enables me to extract from the performance the maximum of enjoyment; and when, on this occasion, the final curtain fell and the audience rose, I rescued my hat from its insecure resting-place and turned to go with the feeling that I had spent a highly agreeable afternoon.
Emerging from the theatre, borne on the outgoing stream, I presently found myself opposite the door of a tea-shop.

Instinct--the five o'clock instinct this time--guided me in; for we are creatures of habit, especially of the tea habit.

The unoccupied table to which I drifted was in a shady corner not very far from the pay-desk; and here I had been seated less than a minute when a lady passed me on her way to the farther table.

The glimpse that I caught of her as she approached--it was but a glimpse, since she passed behind me--showed that she was dressed in black, that she wore a beaded veil and hat, and in addition to the glass of milk and the bun that she carried, she was encumbered by an umbrella and a small basket, apparently containing some kind of needlework.