eah for, this mownin'?" That, perhaps,
conveys some sense of a line he spoke on entering.

And when, in reply, one of the others mentioned the scandal at St.
Petersburg, the flavor of the Earl's retort, as its cooing tones remain
with me, was this:

"Wha', honey! What you-all mean hintin' raound 'baout St. Petuhsbuhg? I
reckon you don' know what you talkin' 'baout! Ah nevuh was in that taown
in all ma bo'n days!"

What followed I am unable to relate, for the Earl's speech caused me to
become emotional, and my companion, after informing me severely that I
was making myself conspicuous, removed me from the chapel.

The auburn goddess was still on duty at the door as we went out.
Advancing, she placed in each of our hands a quarter. I regret to say
that, in my shaken state, I misinterpreted this action.

"Oh, no! _Please!_" I protested, fearing that she thought we had not
enjoyed the performance, and was therefore returning our money. "It
really wasn't bad at all. We're only going because we have an
engagement."

"Be quiet!" interrupted my companion in a savage undertone, jerking me
along by the arm. "It's only a rebate on the seats!" And without
allowing me a chance to set myself right he dragged me out.

CHAPTER XLII

OLD TALES AND A NEW GAME

Mrs. Eichelberger supplied us merely with a place to sleep. For meals
she referred us to a lady who lived a few doors up the street. But when
in the morning we went, full of hunger and of hope, to the house of this
lady, we were coldly informed that breakfast was over, and were
recommended to the Bell Cafe, downtown.

My companion and I are not of that robust breed which enjoys a bracing
walk before its morning coffee, and the fact that the streets of
Columbus charmed us, as we now saw them for the first time by daylight,
is proof enough of their quality. There is but little appetite for
beauty in an empty stomach.

The streets were splendidly wide, and bordered with fine old trees, and
the houses, each in its own lawn, each with its vines and shrubs, were
full of the suggestion of an easy-going home life and an informal
hospitality. Most of them were of frame and in their architecture
illustrated the decadence of the eighties and nineties, but here or
there was a fine old brick homestead with a noble columned portico, or a
formal Georgian house, disposed among beautiful trees and gardens and
sheltered from the street by an ancient hedge of box. So, though
Co