k you might tell us, Mr. Reed," he said, "what the great beauty
of the county looks like?"

"I can't think that this is the time or place for retailing the charms
of a young lady as if it were a slave market," answered Reed; and it
seemed to Crane that the cook, who had come in to change the plates,
looked a little bit disappointed.

"No, not as if it were a slave market," said Lefferts, "because, of
course, it isn't."

"I can see no reason, Reed," said Crane, "why you shouldn't give us a
hint as to whether Miss Revelly is blond or brunette, tall or short."

"Perhaps I see reasons that you do not, sir," answered the wretched real
estate man.

"Well," said Crane, "I tell you what, Jane-Ellen must have seen her
often,--Jane-Ellen," he added, "you've seen Miss Revelly. What does she
look like?"

Jane-Ellen advanced into the room thoughtfully.

"Well, sir," she said, "it isn't for me to criticize my superiors, nor
to say a word against a young lady whom Mr. Reed admires so much, but I
have my own reasons, sir, for thinking that there was more in those
stories of her engagement than perhaps Mr. Reed himself knows. Servants
hear a good deal, you know, sir, and they do say that Miss Revelly--"

"Claudia!" burst from Reed.

"Miss Claudia Revelly, I should say," the cook corrected herself. "Well,
sir, as for looks--let me see--she's a tall, commanding looking lady--"

"With flashing black eyes?" asked Crane.

"And masses of blue-black hair."

"A noble brow?"

"A mouth too large for perfect beauty."

"A queenly bearing?"

"An irresistible dignity of manner."

"Jane-Ellen," said Crane, "I feel almost as if Miss Claudia Revelly were
standing before me."

"Oh, indeed, sir, if it were she, it's you who would be standing," said
the cook.

"For my part," said Crane, turning again to the table, "I had imagined
her to myself as quite different. I had supposed her small, soft-eyed,
with tiny hands and feet and a mouth--" He was looking at Jane-Ellen's
mouth, as if that might give him an inspiration, when Reed interrupted.

"I regret to say, Mr. Crane," he said, "that if this conversation
continues to deal disrespectfully with the appearance of a young lady
for whom--"

"Disrespectfully!" cried Crane. "I assure you, I had no such intention.
I leave it to you, Jane-Ellen, whether anything disrespectful was said
about this young lady."

"It did not seem so to me, sir," answered the cook, with all her
gentlest man