our American prejudice against color! No other people carries it to
such an extent. In the Latin Quarter the West India blacks are prime
favorites with the pretty grisettes."

The young man could not help a slight shiver at this information. He did
not in the least agree with the sentiments his friend was advancing, but
neither did he think it wise to contradict him.

"Then there is the little one--Miss Daisy"--continued Weil, branching
suddenly into that topic. "So quiet, so self-abased, as if she would not
for the world attract one glance that might be claimed by her elder
sister, who is perfectly willing to be a monopolist of attention. A nice
girl, sweet as a fresh-plucked lily. There must be treasures hidden
under all that reticence. Still waters run deep, the silent swine devour
the milk. I think I ought to investigate the child. If you are to have
that aggregation of beauty known as Millicent, what prevents me from
securing a slight hold in the affections of the junior?"

Roseleaf shook his head in a way that might have meant almost anything.
He never could tell how much in earnest his friend was when he took up a
vein like this. Neither could he imagine little Daisy in the role of an
entertainer for such a very wise man as Archie, not only much her senior
but a thousand times her superior in knowledge and acquaintance with
things that people talk about.

"Keep your eye on her--she will be worth watching," said Weil, with one
of his laughs at the sober face before him. "She is worth almost as much
to a rising author as the negro--not quite, but nearly. Then there is
the pater-familias; is there anything in him? No, he will be of no
service to you. And that brings us back to our superb Millicent, with
whom you must now be wildly infatuated."

Roseleaf shook his head again.

"No--not yet," he said.

"But, what do you do all the time? How can you sit by the side of a
pretty girl, and kiss her cheeks, and put your arm around her, and yet
keep from falling in love?"

The younger man gasped at each of these suggestions, like one who has
stepped into icy water and feels it gradually creeping upward.

"I have done none of those things," he faltered.

"None of them! Then I shall not let you stay here!" cried Archie. "What
does the girl expect? That we are going to make her reputation in the
literary world and get nothing for ourselves? I never heard such
effrontery! She refuses to give you the least opportunity