deed, but, though
climatic influences have parched her vocal cords, her harsh, hearty
voice saying something is a pleasurable contrast to the subdued vacuity
of the average English maiden of twenty. The animated clatter of an
occidental gathering may seem discordant when compared with the
solemnity of a London drawing-room; but in this artificial age it should
prove refreshing to one who admits a fondness for open-hearted
naturalness. There was an intimacy among the people gathered in the
"Renaissance Club" rooms which is rarely met with in the larger cities.
They were nearly all acquainted with one another, and most of them were
people who met with such frequency that many restrictions of formality
had passed away. A person whose life is continuously passed amid such
surroundings may develop an inclination to magnify his own _entourage_
to the disparagement of the great world he knows so little of; but he
will be spared a realization of the atomic nature of a person's position
in that world, and he will never know the fitful interest cosmopolitan
society takes in any individual.

Marion Sanderson looked upon this society as provincial, and she felt
inexpressibly bored at the thought that she must meet absolutely the
same people night after night, and know by premonition what each of them
would have to say on any given subject. Her senses had once been dazzled
by the varied glitter of the metropolitan kaleidoscope. Had she been
given time to investigate the tawdry shams, of which it is so largely
composed, she might have appreciated better the less brilliant world
about her; but with her superficial experience inciting discontent,
Marion wandered about, that afternoon, pitying the restricted resources
of the people she met, and congratulating herself and her intimates upon
the aid they had already rendered toward the development of Chicago
society.

Florence Moreland, however, appreciated this society, which, surrounded
by all the appurtenances of civilization, was still so natural and
sincere. She regretted that she had decided to leave, and she entered so
heartily into the spirit of Western life, that she was more than once
tempted to alter her decision; but, remembering that her presence seemed
to torture Harold, she realized that her own peace of mind would be more
easily attained in her New Hampshire home. She wandered about the room,
taking leave of her many friends, who were, of course, greatly surprised
at the