e moment when our guest had
so frankly demanded the Oolong tea.

The great moment arrived. I was formally presented at the stair-foot,
and the two friends passed on to the kitchen, where I soon heard a
hospitable clink of crockery and the brisk stirring of a tea-cup. I sat
in my high-backed rocking-chair by the window in the front room with an
unreasonable feeling of being left out, like the child who stood at
the gate in Hans Andersen's story. Mrs. Fosdick did not look, at first
sight, like a person of great social gifts. She was a serious-looking
little bit of an old woman, with a birdlike nod of the head. I had often
been told that she was the "best hand in the world to make a visit,"--as
if to visit were the highest of vocations; that everybody wished
for her, while few could get her; and I saw that Mrs. Todd felt a
comfortable sense of distinction in being favored with the company of
this eminent person who "knew just how." It was certainly true that Mrs.
Fosdick gave both her hostess and me a warm feeling of enjoyment
and expectation, as if she had the power of social suggestion to all
neighboring minds.

The two friends did not reappear for at least an hour. I could hear
their busy voices, loud and low by turns, as they ranged from public
to confidential topics. At last Mrs. Todd kindly remembered me and
returned, giving my door a ceremonious knock before she stepped in,
with the small visitor in her wake. She reached behind her and took Mrs.
Fosdick's hand as if she were young and bashful, and gave her a gentle
pull forward.

"There, I don't know whether you're goin' to take to each other or
not; no, nobody can't tell whether you'll suit each other, but I
expect you'll get along some way, both having seen the world," said
our affectionate hostess. "You can inform Mis' Fosdick how we found
the folks out to Green Island the other day. She's always been well
acquainted with mother. I'll slip out now an' put away the supper things
an' set my bread to rise, if you'll both excuse me. You can come an'
keep me company when you get ready, either or both." And Mrs. Todd,
large and amiable, disappeared and left us.

Being furnished not only with a subject of conversation, but with a safe
refuge in the kitchen in case of incompatibility, Mrs. Fosdick and I sat
down, prepared to make the best of each other. I soon discovered that
she, like many of the elder women of the coast, had spent a part of
her life at sea, and wa