uld probably appal and frighten
her.

"Will you have some of the _sole au vin blanc_?" she asked, bringing me
down to earth again.

I thanked her and accepted, admiring the witchery whereby the Widow
Camus can take a vulgar flounder and, with magic passes, translate it
into a fair imitation of a more heavenly fish. One nice thing about
Frieda is that she never appears to think it incumbent upon her
companion to devote every second of his attention to her. If I chance to
see a tip-tilted nose, which would serve nicely in the description of
some story-girl, and wish to study it carefully and, I hope,
unobtrusively, she is willing to let her own eyes wander about and enjoy
herself, until I turn to her again. I was observing the details of a
very fetching and merry little countenance, when a girl rose from an
adjoining table and came up to Frieda.

"I happened to turn my head and see you," she exclaimed. "So I just had
to come over and say howdy. I'm so glad to see you. I have my cousin
from Mackville with me and am showing him the town."

She was a dainty thing, modestly clad, crowned with fluffy auburn, and
with a face pigmented with the most genuine of cream and peaches.
Frieda presented me, and she smiled, graciously, saying a few bright
nothings about the heat, after which she rejoined her companion, a
rather tall and gawky youth.

"She posed for me as Niobe two years ago," said my friend. "At present,
she teaches physical culture."

"What!" I exclaimed, "that wisp of a girl."

"Yes, I don't know how many pounds she can lift; ever so many. She's a
perfect darling and looks after an old mother, who still deplores
Mackville Four Corners. Her cousin is in safe hands."

I took another look at the six-footer with her, who smoked a cigarette
with evident unfamiliarity.

"Would," I said, "that every youth, confronted by the perils of New York
for the first time, might be guided in such security. She is showing him
the revelry of Camus and has proved to him that a slightly Bohemian
atmosphere is not incompatible with personal cleanliness and a soul kept
white. It will broaden his horizon. Then she will take him home at a
respectable hour, after having demonstrated to him the important fact
that pleasure, edible viands and a cheerful atmosphere may be procured
here out of a two-dollar bill, leaving a little change for carfare."

"If I were a man," said Frieda, "I should fall in love with her."

"If you were a man,