n went on. 'What will you be in
South Kensington, I wonder? a sad and solitary Satan, disillusioned and
distinguished, or a bluff, breezy sailor, fond of his bottle and his
boon companions?'

AN ANOMALY

When people embellish their conversation with a glitter of titles, and
drag into it self-aggrandizing anecdotes, though I laugh at this peacock
vein in them, I do not harshly condemn it. Nay, since I too am human,
since I too belong to the great household, would it be surprising
if--say once or twice in my life--I also should have gratified this
tickling relish of the tongue?

No--but what is surprising, is the way that, as I feel, I alone always
escape detection, always throw dust in other people's eyes.

THE LISTENER

The topic was one of my favourite topics of conversation, but I didn't
at all feel on this occasion that it was I who was speaking. No, it was
the Truth shining through me; the light of the Revelation which I had
been chosen to proclaim and blazon to the world. No wonder they were all
impressed by my moving tones and gestures; no wonder even the fastidious
lady whom it was most difficult to please kept watching me with almost
ecstatic attention.

As a cloud may obscure the sun in his glory, so from some morass of
memory arose a tiny mist of words to darken my mind for a moment. I
brushed them aside; they had no meaning. Sunning myself in the mirror of
those eyes, never, for a moment, could I credit that devil-suggested
explanation of their gaze.

Oh, no! that phrase I had heard, I had heard, was a nonsense phrase; the
words, 'She mimics you to perfection,' were nothing but a bit of
unintelligible jabber.

ABOVE THE CLOUDS

'I do so hate gossip,' she murmured.

'How I hate it too!' I heard myself exclaim.

'There is so much that is good and noble in human nature; why not talk
of that?'

'Why not indeed?' I sighed.

'I always feel that it is one's own fault if one dislikes people, or
finds them boring.'

'How I agree with you!' I cried sincerely.

'But people are nowadays so cynical--they sneer at everything that makes
life worth living--Love, Faith, Friendship--'

'And yet those very names are so lovely that even when used in mockery
they shed a radiance--they shine like stars.'

'How beautifully you put it! I have so enjoyed our talk.' I had enjoyed
it too, and felt all the better for it, only a little giddy and out of
breath, as if I had been up in a ballo