y and
careless boys and girls--they are not exactly courting, they are
enjoying the excitement of fresh acquaintance; old conversation is
here poured into new bottles, old jokes have the freshness of infancy,
every one is animated, and polite to no one but his partner; the
people they meet and pass and those who overtake and pass them are all
subjects for their wit and scorn, while they, in turn, furnish a
moment's amusement and conversation to each succeeding couple.
Constantly there are stoppages when very high-bred introductions
result in a redistribution of the youngsters. As they move apart the
words "To-morrow night," or "Thursday," or "Friday," are called
laughingly back, showing that the late partner is not to be lost sight
of utterly; and then the procession begins anew.

Among these folk Mary Makebelieve passed rapidly. She knew that if she
walked slowly some partially elaborate gentleman would ask suddenly
what she had been doing with herself since last Thursday? and would
introduce her as Kate Ellen to six precisely similar young gentlemen,
who smiled blandly in a semi-circle six feet distant. This had
happened to her once before, and as she fled the six young gentlemen
had roared "bow, wow, wow" after her, while the seventh mewed
earnestly and with noise.

She stood for a time watching the people thronging into the Gayety
Theater. Some came in motor cars, others in carriages. Many
hearse-like cabs deposited weighty and respectable solemnities under
the glass-roofed vestibule. Swift outside cars buzzed on rubber tires
with gentlemen clad in evening dress, and ladies whose silken wraps
blew gently from their shoulders, and, in addition, a constant
pedestrian stream surged along the pathway. From the shelter of an
opposite doorway Mary watched these gayly animated people. She envied
them all innocently enough, and wondered would the big policeman ever
ask her to go to the theater with him, and if he did, would her mother
let her go. She thought her mother would refuse, but was dimly certain
that in some way she would manage to get out if such a delightful
invitation were given her. She was dreaming of the alterations she
would make in her best frock in anticipation of such a treat when,
half-consciously, she saw a big figure appear round the corner of
Grafton Street and walk towards the theater. It was he, and her heart
jumped with delight. She prayed that he would not see her, and then
she prayed that he w