When he came for her, they went down the hall to a corridor opening upon three great rooms which had been thrown open together, with the furniture removed and the broad floors waxed.

At one end of the corridor musicians sat in a green grove, and Walter, with some interest, turned toward these; but his sister, pressing his arm, impelled him in the opposite direction.
"What's the matter now ?" he asked.

"That's Jazz Louie and his half-breed bunch--three white and four mulatto.

Let's---- ?" "No, no," she whispered.

"We must speak to Mildred and Mr.and Mrs.
Palmer." "'Speak' to 'em?
I haven't got a thing to say to THOSE berries!" "Walter, won't you PLEASE behave ?" He seemed to consent, for the moment, at least, and suffered her to take him down the corridor toward a floral bower where the hostess stood with her father and mother.