sort of dinner he would have ordered had he ordered it for
himself at some one else's expense. He suggested Little Neck clams
first, with Chablis, and pea-soup, and caviare on toast, before the
oyster crabs, with Johannisberger Cabinet; then an entree of calves'
brains and rice; then no roast, but a bird, cold asparagus with French
dressing, Camembert cheese, and Turkish coffee. As there were to be no
women, he omitted the sweets and added three other wines to follow the
white wine. It struck him as a particularly well-chosen dinner, and
the longer he sat and thought about it the more he wished he were to
test its excellence. And then the people all around him were so bright
and happy, and seemed to be enjoying what they had ordered with such a
refinement of zest that he felt he would give a great deal could he
just sit there as one of them for a brief hour.

At that moment the servant deferentially handed him a note which a
messenger boy had brought. It said:

"Dinner off called out town send clothes and things after me to Young's
Boston."

"VAN BIBBER."

Walters rose involuntarily, and then sat still to think about it. He
would have to countermand the dinner which he had ordered over half an
hour before, and he would have to explain who he was to those other
servants who had always regarded him as such a great gentleman. It was
very hard.

And then Walters was tempted. He was a very good servant, and he knew
his place as only an English servant can, and he had always accepted
it, but to-night he was tempted--and he fell. He met the waiter's
anxious look with a grave smile.

"The other gentlemen will not be with me to-night," he said, glancing
at the note. "But I will dine here as I intended. You can serve for
one."

That was perhaps the proudest night in the history of Walters. He had
always felt that he was born out of his proper sphere, and to-night he
was assured of it. He was a little nervous at first, lest some of Van
Bibber's friends should come in and recognize him; but as the dinner
progressed and the warm odor of the dishes touched his sense, and the
rich wines ran through his veins, and the women around him smiled and
bent and moved like beautiful birds of beautiful plumage, he became
content, grandly content; and he half closed his eyes and imagined he
was giving a dinner to everybody in the place. Vain and idle thoughts
came to him and went again, and he eyed the others about him