generally and afternoon tea. I leave out my
retinue, the Kaleidoscopic Circle, and tell them about it afterward. My
Social Exquisites and my Social Drifters are _reformed regulars_--brands
snatched from the burning by me. Briefless Barristers delight me very
much. I have several interesting specimens in the legal line. It is
interesting to have "young men of great promise" around me. True, their
fees are small and few between, yet that enables them to see just that
much more of me. In the old days I used to read law with them; but I
have very wisely abandoned that little habit--it was tiresome.

I have one or two Men Who Have Risen. They are crude, uncultured
creatures, but full of excellent points. One of them is a widower,
who made his large fortune killing hogs, and afterward canning peas,
tomatoes, etc. Of course he talks all the time about how he made his
money. I am always an attentive listener, and I verily believe that I
now have a practical knowledge of the hog business and canning interests
of the country.

Men Unsuccessful look to me for new inspiration, new hope. They are
always interesting. They are mental fragments flung aside by God, and
by Him held down--so they tell me. They are bitter, cynical, and nearly
always dyspeptic. They are near of kin to my Sympathy Seekers, who are
pale, light-haired creatures, continually making appeals for sympathy.
But my Sympathy Finders are very near and dear to me. They are generally
silent, melancholy men. They are always bearable, unless they chance to
be in love with some other woman, and make me, along with a dozen other
people, their _one and only_ confidant. Then is my life made a
burden. I am privately interviewed on all occasions, the more
inopportune the better. I am cornered and made a vessel for his pent-up
feelings. I am told of her cruel treatment. I am told of her charms and
of her faults--principally not loving him. I am worked up into a nervous
state. My physical nature grants him tears, while my mental nature
speculates about the sincerity of his passion and just to how many
others he may have told the self-same story. Of course all this is
wearing, yet it is very interesting.

Newspaper Reporters are a much-abused, downtrodden class. I have known
many, and I have yet to know one unworthy of a true woman's confidence.
Treat them as if they were dogs, and they will act like dogs--forever
barking and biting at your heels; but treat them like human being