ete
noir, the P. and S. W. Railroad."

Presley started, his fists clenching so abruptly as to all but split his
white gloves. He was not conscious of what he said in reply, and Mrs.
Cedarquist was so taken up with her own endless stream of talk that she
did not observe his confusion.

"Their daughter Honora is going to Europe next week; her mother is to
take her, and Mrs. Gerard is to have just a few people to dinner--very
informal, you know--ourselves, you and, oh, I don't know, two or three
others. Have you ever seen Honora? The prettiest little thing, and
will she be rich? Millions, I would not dare say how many. Tiens. Nous
voici."

The coupe drew up to the curb, and Presley followed Mrs. Cedarquist up
the steps to the massive doors of the great house. In a confused daze,
he allowed one of the footmen to relieve him of his hat and coat; in a
daze he rejoined Mrs. Cedarquist in a room with a glass roof, hung with
pictures, the art gallery, no doubt, and in a daze heard their names
announced at the entrance of another room, the doors of which were hung
with thick, blue curtains.

He entered, collecting his wits for the introductions and presentations
that he foresaw impended.

The room was very large, and of excessive loftiness. Flat, rectagonal
pillars of a rose-tinted, variegated marble, rose from the floor almost
flush with the walls, finishing off at the top with gilded capitals of
a Corinthian design, which supported the ceiling. The ceiling itself,
instead of joining the walls at right angles, curved to meet them, a
device that produced a sort of dome-like effect. This ceiling was a maze
of golden involutions in very high relief, that adjusted themselves to
form a massive framing for a great picture, nymphs and goddesses, white
doves, golden chariots and the like, all wreathed about with clouds and
garlands of roses. Between the pillars around the sides of the room
were hangings of silk, the design--of a Louis Quinze type--of beautiful
simplicity and faultless taste. The fireplace was a marvel. It reached
from floor to ceiling; the lower parts, black marble, carved into
crouching Atlases, with great muscles that upbore the superstructure.
The design of this latter, of a kind of purple marble, shot through
with white veinings, was in the same style as the design of the
silk hangings. In its midst was a bronze escutcheon, bearing an
undecipherable monogram and a Latin motto. Andirons of brass, nearly six
fe