sibilities. But Jim could hurt himself with his wife, and
this afternoon he had done so. Unconsciously Julia said to herself, over
and over, "Oh, he should not have said that! That was not kind!"

Mrs. Vane had a great favour to ask the men of the party to-night. She
proffered it somewhat doubtfully, like a spoiled child who is almost
sure of being denied, yet risks its little charms in one more entreaty.
She and Paula, yes, and Mrs. Jerome, and little Julia--wasn't that so,
Julia?--wanted to see a roadhouse. No--no--no--not the sort of place
where nice women went, but a regular roadhouse--oh, please, please,
please! They had their veils to tie over their faces, and they would
keep very unobtrusively in the background, and there was a man apiece
and two men over to protect them.

"All the girls in town are doing it!" argued Mrs. Vane, "and they say
it's perfectly killing! Dancing, you know, and singing. You have to keep
your veil down, of course! Betty said they'd been three times!"

"Nothing doing," Jim said good-naturedly, shaking his head.

"Oh, now, don't say that, Doctor!" Mrs. Vane commanded animatedly; "it's
too _mean_! Well, if you couldn't take us to the very worst, where _could_
you take us--Hunter's?"

"Hunter's!" the three men echoed, laughing and exchanging glances.

"Well, where then?" the lady pursued.

"Look here, Min," said her husband uneasily, "there's nothing to it. And
you girls might get insulted and mixed into something--"

"Oh, divine!" Mrs. Billings said; "now I _will_ go!"

"White's, huh, Jim?" Greg suggested tentatively.

"White's?" Jim considered it, shook his head. "Nothing doing there,
anyway!" was his verdict.

"Larry's, where the pretty window boxes are," suggested Mrs. Vane,
hopeful eyes upon the judges. "Come on! _Oh, come on_! You see such flossy
ladies getting out of motor cars in front of Larry's!"

"There's this about Larry's," Mr. Billings contributed; "we could get
one of those side places, and then, if things got too hot, just step out
on to the porch, d'ye see, and get the girls away with no fuss at all."

"That's so," Jim conceded; "but I'll be darned if I know why they want
to do it. However--"

"However, you're all angels!" sang Mrs. Vane, and catching Julia about
the waist, she began to waltz upon the pleasant meadow grass where they
had just had their high tea. "Come on, everybody! We won't be at
Fernand's until nearly night, then dinner, and then Larry's!"