onal topics than he had hitherto broached. He felt
that by this time they must be quite good friends. So he began,--

Did she like living in Europe?

Yes, she found it very pleasant and Miss Comstock was the nicest teacher
she had ever had--really not like a teacher at all; and she liked Miss
Baxter and the metal-work. (This was a long and complicated statement
for Adelle.)

She must show him some of her work. Was that chain (taking it familiarly
in his hands to look at it) her own handiwork?

Oh, no; that was a Lalique ... the chief artist in this _genre_ in
Paris. (The banker mentally accounted for some of the recent drafts.)
Didn't he think it pretty?--such an unusual arrangement of the stones!

He should not call it exactly pretty--odd rather;--but it was very
becoming to her.... He should like to see some of her own work, etc.

Oh, she should never dare to show him anything she had done. She was
nothing but a beginner, etc., etc.

Later on, as they entered the dark precincts of the city, another step
nearer the personal was taken.

She would want to spend another year in Europe probably?

Oh, yes, they had the loveliest plans. Miss Comstock was going to take
her and Eveline Glynn on a visit to some friends who had an estate in
Poland, in the mountains, a real castle, etc. (Mental note by the
banker--"Must look up this Comstock woman--seems to have a good deal of
influence upon the girl.") And then they were all going to Italy again
in the spring and perhaps Greece, though everybody said that was too
hard on account of the poor hotels. And she did want to go up the Nile
and see the Sphynx and all the rest of it, etc., etc. (Pause).

Had she any idea what she would like to do afterwards, where she wanted
to live?

When?

Why, after she had finished her education.

Oh, she wanted to go on making pretty things--she should have a studio
of her own, of course, like Miss Baxter.

"Where?"

"Why in Paris,--perhaps New York," Adelle replied vaguely,
indifferently.

That gave Mr. Crane an opportunity for an improving homily on the folly
of expatriation, the beauty of living in one's own country among one's
own people, and so forth, which brought them to the door of Adelle's
hotel. Mr. Crane came in and met Miss Comstock and the girls she had
with her. Then he disappeared and returned later in full dress and took
the party to the Carlton for dinner and then to a light opera. The girls
were entranced with