d pass, even as they rent the
white veil of the storm, into regions of beauty....

And now the world seemed abandoned to them alone, so empty, so still were
the white villages flitting by; so empty, so still the great parkway of
the Fells stretching away and away like an enchanted forest under the
snow, like the domain of some sleeping king. And the flakes melted
silently into the black waters. And the wide avenue to which they came
led to a sleeping palace! No, it was a city, Somerville, Ditmar told her,
as they twisted in and out of streets, past stores, churches and
fire-engine houses, breasted the heights, descended steeply on the far
side into Cambridge, and crossed the long bridge over the Charles. And
here at last was Boston--Beacon Street, the heart or funnel of it, as one
chose. Ditmar, removing one of the side curtains that she might see, with
just a hint in his voice of a reverence she was too excited to notice,
pointed out the stern and respectable facades of the twin Chippering
mansions standing side by side. Save for these shrines--for such in some
sort they were to him--the Back Bay in his eyes was nothing more than a
collection of houses inhabited by people whom money and social position
made unassailable. But to-day he, too, was excited. Never had he been
more keenly aware of her sensitiveness to experience; and he to whom it
had not occurred to wonder at Boston wondered at her, who seemed able to
summon forth a presiding, brooding spirit of the place from out of the
snow. Deep in her eyes, though they sparkled, was the reflection of some
mystic vision; her cheeks were flushed. And in her delight, vicariously
his own, he rejoiced; in his trembling hope of more delight to come,
which this mentorship would enhance,--despite the fast deepening snow he
drove her up one side of Commonwealth Avenue and down the other,
encircling the Common and the Public Garden; stopping at the top of Park
Street that she might gaze up at the State House, whose golden dome, seen
through the veil, was tinged with blue. Boston! Why not Russia? Janet was
speechless for sheer lack of words to describe what she felt....

At length he brought the car to a halt opposite an imposing doorway in
front of which a glass roof extended over the pavement, and Janet
demanded where they were.

"Well, we've got to eat, haven't we?" Ditmar replied. She noticed that he
was shivering.

"Are you cold?" she inquired with concern.

"I guess I a