the hippo in the zoo feels like," he confided to me,
"and he has the advantage of a thicker skin. But I'm putting it all down
to advertising expense. Good-by, Dave, old boy, give my kindest regards
to--to Frieda."

I was glad when I reached the sidewalk again. I am no cynical detractor
of the advantages of wealth, breeding, education and all the things that
go towards refining away some of the dross which clings to the original
man. Were it not for the hope of lucre, how many would be the works of
art, how great would be the achievements of the world! Still, I felt
that a man can have a little too much of the scent of roses, a surfeit
of gilded lilies and gems in profusion. The good, old, hard sidewalk
seemed to give me just as pleasant a welcome as that extended by softest
rugs, while the keen and bracing air filled my lungs more agreeably than
the warmed and perfumed atmosphere I had just left. I climbed on top of
one of the auto-busses, holding on to my hat, and was taken all the way
down to Washington Square, where some of the ancient aristocracy of
Gotham lives cheek by jowl with the proletariat burrowing a little
further south.

I walked away, slowly, seeking to remember in that crowded assembly
uptown some face I could favorably compare with that of Frances. No, it
had been a road from Dan to Beersheba, barren of such beauty as blossoms
on the fourth floor back, of what Gordon calls my menagerie. One of my
venturesome fancies painted for me the Murillo-woman gliding through
those rooms. She would have been like a great evening star among
twinkling asteroids. My imagination vaguely clothed her with a raiment
of beauty, but the smile of her needed no changing.

I reached the house just as the young ladies who sell candy were
returning. My silk hat, I think, impressed them, as well as my yellow
gloves and the ancient gold-mounted Malacca I inherited from my father.

"My! Ain't you handsome to-day, Mr. Cole!" exclaimed one of them.

"You been to a weddin', Mr. Cole?" asked another.

"I have been to pay my respects to two people who are drifting that way,
if signs don't fail," I answered. "I should be happy indeed to look just
as handsome whenever any of you favors me with an invitation to her
marriage."

At this they giggled, appearing rather pleased, and I made my way
upstairs, glad indeed to climb them. How fortunate it is that I selected
the higher levels, considering that they would give me greater privacy