enger and hotel guest who may, or may
not, be a climber. This one searches out potential acquaintances on the
passenger list and hotel register with the avidity of a bird searching for
worms. You have scarcely found your own stateroom and had your deck chair
placed, when one of them swoops upon you: "I don't know whether you
remember me? I met you in nineteen two, at Countess della Robbia's in
Florence." Your memory being woefully incomplete, there is nothing for you
to say except, "How do you do!" If a few minutes of conversation, which
should be sufficient, proves her to be a lady, you talk to her now and
again throughout the voyage, and may end by liking her very much. If,
however, her speech breaks into expressions which prove her not a lady,
you become engrossed in your book or conversation with another when she
approaches. Often these over-friendly people are grasping, calculating and
objectionable, but sometimes like Ricki Ticki Tavi they are merely
obsessed with a mania to run about and see what is going on in the world.

For instance, Miss Spinster is one of the best-bred, best-informed, most
charming ladies imaginable. But her mania for people cannot fail on
occasions to put her in a position to be snubbed--never seriously because
she is too obviously a lady for that. But to see her trotting along the
deck and then darting upon a helpless reclining figure, is at least an
illustration of the way some people make friends. It can't be done, of
course, unless you have once known the person you are addressing, or
unless you have a friend in common who, though absent, can serve in
making the introduction.

As said in "Introductions," introducing oneself is often perfectly
correct. If you, sharing Miss Spinster's love of people, find yourself on
a steamer with the intimate friend of a member of your family, you may
very properly go up and say, "I am going to speak to you because I am
Celia Lovejoy's cousin--I am Mrs. Brown." And Mrs. Norman, who very much
likes Celia Lovejoy, says cordially, "I am so glad you spoke to me, do sit
down, won't you?" But to have your next chair neighbor on deck insist on
talking to you, if you don't want to be talked to, is very annoying, and
it is bad form for her to do so. If you are sitting hour after hour doing
nothing but idly looking in front of you, your neighbor might address a
few remarks to you, and if you receive them with any degree of enthusiasm,
your response may be transla