ess,--

_"Oh barren gain! Oh bitter loss!
I kiss each bead, and strive at last to learn
To kiss the cross--"_

And, in the midst of the stillness, he rose and quietly returned to his
old place by the fire.

It was long before anyone spoke. Then even Miss Gannion's level voice
jarred upon the silence.

"You have a wonderful gift in your keeping, Mr. Thayer," was all she
said.

But Beatrix was silent, her eyes fixed on the glowing coals. At length
she roused herself with an effort. Reverie was not permissible for a
hostess on her reception day. She came out of hers, to find that the
conversation had broken into duets. At one side of the table, Bobby and
Sally were sparring vivaciously; at the other, Miss Gannion and Thayer
had fallen into quiet talk about certain common friends and about the
simplest method of helping Arlt to gain the professional recognition he
deserved and needed.

"I'm not potent at all," Miss Gannion said regretfully. "I only know
people who are, and they are not always receptive in their minds. Still,
I may be able to do something, and he made a good impression at Mrs.
Lloyd Avalons's recital. In the meantime, bring him to my home, some
evening soon. Friday is my day; but, if you don't mind--"

Thayer understood her.

"Arlt will like it a great deal better, and so shall I. He is a shy
fellow, and he never shows at his best, when too many people are about."

Miss Gannion's face betrayed her relief. She had not meant to seem
inhospitable; neither had she desired apparently to be scheming for a
free recital. It was a precarious matter, this establishing social
relations with a really great artist who had just expressed his
willingness to sing in private life. Miss Gannion's acquaintance was
large and of many lines; but Thayer was a new species to her, and she
had felt somewhat at a loss how to treat him, as artist or as mere man.
Thayer's answer inclined her to the latter alternative.

"What about Saturday, then?" she asked. "I shall be at home, that
night."

"Please ask me, Miss Gannion," Bobby entreated.

Miss Gannion shook her head.

"No; you are too much in evidence, Bobby. You would distract my mind
from Mr. Arlt, and this is his party, you know. Even Mr. Thayer is
subordinate. But, Beatrix child, where is Mr. Lorimer? I thought surely
I should find him here, to-day. I've not congratulated him yet. That was
one thing that brought me here."

Beatrix flushed a little.