ion encouraged by evidence?'

"'That query I must decline to answer,' said I.

"'Well, you know, I'm not going to be long in doubt,' the boy
declared, as he left me.

"The event was an epoch-maker. Long reports of it appeared in the
daily press and traveled far in a surge of thoughtful merriment. For
instance: 'Miss Mary Maginness, the accomplished lady-in-waiting of
Mrs. William Warburton, of Warburton House, wore a coronet and a
dog-collar of diamonds above a costume of white brocaded satin,
trimmed with old duchesse lace and gold ornaments. Miss Maginness is a
lineal descendant of Lord Rawdon Maginness, of Cork, who early in the
seventeenth century commanded an army that drove the Italians out of
Ireland.'

"And so it went, with column after column of glittering detail. Since
then the servants have enjoyed a monopoly in splendor--it's been a
kind of Standard Jewel Company, and certain rich men have boasted in
my presence that they haven't a jewel in their houses; and one added
with quite unneeded emphasis: 'Not a measly jewel. My wife says that
they suggest dish-water and aprons.'

"'It is too funny!' said Mrs. Warburton. 'You know those jewels at the
ball were quite as real as many that are worn by ladies of fashion.
Most rich women who want to save themselves worry keep their jewels in
the strong-box and wear replicas of paste and composition.'

"The instalment jeweler has gone out of business, and half a dozen
servant-girls have refused to make further payments on their
solitaires and returned them.

"One singular thing happened. Nearly all those servants paid their
bills to our store, and we closed out with an unexpected profit, while
a number of stores who charged their goods to the noble band of
employers have stopped for need of money."

X

IN WHICH SOCRATES BREAKS THE DRAG AND TANDEM MONOPOLY IN POINTVIEW

"Harry's father came often for a smoke and talk with me after dinner,
and his favorite subject was Harry. As a subject of conversation,
Harry was more successful than the average crime. In this respect he
resembled a divorce or a murder. That's how it happened that Harry got
on my mind. He is one of the most skilful riders of the human mind
that I know of. He was wearing us out, and we were all bucking to get
him off. Well, his father was thinking about him while I was thinking
about the rest of Pointview. It was another case of Rome and Caesar.
Harry's last achievement was to accuse hi