The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-20


their host upon his modishly trimmed
side-whiskers.
You're right" says Mr.. Higbee, amiably,
II amt stuck any myself on this way of
trimming up a mans face, but the madam
will have it this way-says 1T looks more
refined and New Yorky. And now. do you
know. ever since I've wore EN- this way
ever since I had 'em scraped from around
under my neck here-I have to go TO Flori-
da every winter. Come January or Febru-
ary get bronchitis every blamed year.'
Two OF the guests only are alien TO the
barbaric throng.
There is the noble Baron Ronault De
Palliac, decorated, reserved, observant-al-
most wistful For the moment he is pic
turing dutifully the luxuries certain mar
riage would enable him TO procure for his
noble father and his aged mother, who
eagerly await the news of his quest for the
golden fleece. For the baron contemplates,
after the fashion Of many conscientious eX-
plorers. a marriage with a native woman;
though he permits himself to cherish the
hope that IL may not be conditioned upon
his adopting the manners and customs OF
the particular tribe that he means 10 hon.
or. Monsieur the baron has long since been
obliged TO confess that a suitable mes
alliance is none too easy of achievement
and, in testimony of his vicissitudes, he has
written for a Paris comic paper a series Of
grimly satiric essays upon New York So
ciety. Recently, moreover, he has been upon
the verge of accepting employment in the
candy factory of bourgeois compatriot.
But hope has a little revived in the noble
txtx~ hi
title under the scrutiny of the bewitchins
Miss Millicent Higbee and her appreciative
mother.
And tonight there is not only the pretty
Miss Higbee, but the winning Miss Bines,
whose dot, the baron has been led to I'M
drstand. would permit his beloved father
unlimited piquet at his club, to say moth
ing of regenerating the family chateau.
Yet these are hardly matters TO be gos-
siped of. 1t is enough to know that the
Baron Ronault de Palliac when he discov-
ers himself at table between Miss Bines
and the adorable Miss Higbee becomes
less saturnine than has for some time been
his wont. He does not forget previous dis
appointments, but desperately snaps his
swarthy Jaws i'm commendable superiority
to any adverse fate.
"Je ne dome pas un DAMN he says to
himself, and translates, as was his prac-
tice, to better his English-"I do not present
damn. / shall take what it is that it
may be-"
The noble Baron De Palliac at this feast
of the tribesmen was like the captive pa
trcian of old led in chains that CALLED.
The other alien. Taunton Oldaker, was
present under terms of honorable truce.
willingly and without Interior motive saw
ing-as he confessed to himself-a consum-
ing desire TO see chow the other half lives
He was no longer the hunted and dis
mayed being Percival had met i'm that far
of and impossible Montana; but was now
umtroubled, remembering, it is true. that
this stunning expedition" he termed
it, had taken him beyond the recognized
bounds of his beloved New York, but Sc
rene in the consciousness that half an
hours drive would land him safely back
at his club.
provingly-
1--WE are so glad to be in New York;"
she had confided to him, sitting at her
right.
My dear young woman he warned her.
you haven't reached New York yet" The
talk being general and loud. he ventured
further.
This is Pittsburg, Chicago, Kansas
City, Denver-almost anything but New
York"
"Of course 1 know these are not the
swell old families"
Oldaker slipped his glass of old Oloroso
sherry and discoursed.
'.And our prominent families, the ones
whose names you read, are not New York
any more either. They are rather London
and Paris Their furniture, clothing, plate,
pictures and servants come from one or
the other. Yes, and their manners. too.
their interests and sympathies and con-
Germs, their fashions-and-sometim
their-er-morals. They are assuredly not
New York any more than Gobelin tapes
tries and Fortuny pictures and Louis
Seize chairs are New York.
How queerly you talk. Where is New
York, them
Oidaker sighed thoughtfully between two
spoonfuls of torture verte, claire.
"Well, / suppose the truth is that there
isn't much of New York left in New York.
AS a matter of fact l think ii died with
the old volunteer fire department Anyway
the surviving remnant is coy. Real old
New Workers like myself-neither poor nor
ricll-are swamped in these days like those
prehistoric animals whose bones we find.
There comes a time when we can't live,
and deposits form over us and we're lost
even to memory
But this talk was even harder for Miss
Bines TO understand than the English
speech of the Baron Ronault de Palliac.
and she turne1 TO that noble gentleman as
the turbot with sauce Coral was served.
The dining room, its wall wainscoted
from floor to ceiling in Spanish oak, was
flooded with soft light from the red silk
dome that depended from it's crown of
gold above the table. The laughter and talk
were as little subdued as the scheme Of the
rooms. 1t was an atmosphere of prodigal
and confident opulence. From the music
room near by came the soft strains of a
Haydn quartet, exauisitely performed by
| finished and expensive artists.
''Say, Higbeev' it was the oil chief from
Texas, ''see if them fiddlers of yours can't
| play Ma Honolulu Lulu.'"
Oldaker, wincing and turning TO Miss
Bines for sympathy. heard her say:
Eyes, do Mr.. Higbee / do love those
| ragtime songs-and then have them play
| Tell Me. Pretty Maiden and the Inter
mezzo.'
| He groaned in anguish
| The talk ran mostly on practical affairs:
i the current values of the great staple