The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-09

HIS is 4 story OF q Boulder;
Bounder who lived in San Fran
cisco. Tor the benefit OF those
who do not know what Bounder
is, It may be briefly stated that a
Bounder is a man who is constantly
violating some accepted social canon
and who doesn't know it. This par
ticular Bounder had always lived in
the West. The West is not New York.
but at tire same time it hassits stand
ards. Etiquette-even the etiquette OF
textbooks is not dead letter, and
that finer product of civilization-tha
subtlety OF training and instinct which
tells one how and when and where's,
apparent in the social atmosphere; that
is. to all except Boundcrs.
Now. tho Bounder had many things
in his favor. He was young, good
looking and possessed of a fair share
or the worlds goods. Hence, mammas
with manageable daughters sought
him: eagerly at first, before they
realized; unhappiIy later. when he
The Beunder soon found this out and,
heing endowed with a fair share Of in
telligcnce and two enormous percep-
tive bumps, began to ponder on things.
He determined to find out what made
him different from other men. He be-
gan to observe men and things care
fully, and he found much to interest
him in the details and peculiarities of
life among the elect. In fact, the
rapidity with which he discovered
things was startling.
For instance, he discovered that
within the sacred precincts OF the
-Four Hundred il is not permissible to
wear conspicuous clothes. no matter
how costly the material or how late
the cut. Now. the Bounder- was fond
OF bright colors, a taste which he often
boosted compIacently he had derived
from his Indian grandmother. and so
his tics were things to behold. Also
his socks and his tie often swore at
each other. The Bounder felt their be-
havior keenly. but ne did not know
they were swearing. He called it
something else, for, like the lady in
the poem. lie didn't understand.
Tall Hat and Short Coat
He also discovered that lligiisssilsssl
hat should not be worn with sack
suit. The Bounder had made this, mis-
take only the day befoSe.s and it hurt
him, for he knew the hat was becom- :.
ing and he had not thought aboutztlle
suit. lie was getting INTERESTED. when
he went to a smart tea the a1estA-afte ter
noon he was CARRIED Sc Correctly that
dummy could bare found, TO faults9
and people looking after hini- as he'
walked along said: 1T must be "a
German Prince, at least But for
tunately he didn't hear them. He wore
a double-breasted frock coat and waist
coat of soft black vicuna, finely striped
dark gray trousers of cashmere. a
white linen shirt with a standing collar.
his tic was an English square OF pearl
gray. he had patent leather bUttoned
shoes with kid tops. gloves of gray
suede and silk hat He carried a
walking stick and sported bouton-
Micro. lie had wanted frock coat in
dark shade of gray, but his tailor had
told him this was not so serviceable.
The card he had received for this tea
was a much larger one than he had
been in the habit of receiving. and this
fact told him that it was now the COR
rect thing. for he knew these people
end what they represented, and he par
ticularly wanted to appear at his best.
This new and larger card was en-
grayed:
MRS. LESLIE ASHTON,
Tuesdays,
,-be third and tenth Of January.
2205 Winfield avenue.
From four until seven o'clock.
and All the numerals, dates and adj
dresses were engraved IN full.
when the Bounder reached Winfield
avenue he committed his first solecism
by nervously inouiring If Mrs. Ashton
were at home. He found out-through
Che man servant stationed at the door
that his question was IN wretched
form.
When the Bounder entered the d-aw-
ing-room he saw q girl standing
against the wall and looking decidedly
unhappy. She was young and pretty
and SO obviously i'll at ease that the