St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-07-27

L ne Suldn tdtk Oh, the ueU Sld0Ul0S
in the lobby was diverted by the en-,
trance of a young man who. passing
the group, went to the office, called
for letters. received several and went
into the general lounging room to read
them.
who is hep asked one
Don't know" said another.
He's not member of the club"
said third. Van Vechten put him
up. His name is Royden"
Hes got some sort of social pull"
fourth put in. He's thick with the
Traceys. What Mrs. Tracey puts her
stamp on goes
1T doesn't matter to me-" said one
Of the party. Horace Skinner. who
puts a stamp on him. he doesn't go
with me-
This remark attracted attention.
Skinner was cOtillion leader to the set
in question and could admit or decline
to admit one who knocked at the
golden door.
Whats the matter with him?' was
asked. But Skinner walked away.
leaving his friends TO find out for
themselves why he had put the stamp
of his disapproval on Mr.. Royden. All
admitted that Royden had the man
ners of a gentleman. and from what
little was known of his mental endow-
ments they were at least respectable
But what had such qualifications to
do with social life? People with
brains. wealth. refinement were crowd
ing upon the holy numbers" as Il
wag facetiously called them. and here
was a stranger about whom nothing
was known who bid fair to walk in
and make himself at home
There is still TO be found in the So
cial swim of New York here and there
some descendants of the leaders of
half Il century or more ago These rel
les of the past may be rich or may be
poor. They are there because they have
always been there. Should they pass
out and again seek admission they
would be obliged to fight their way
like the rest of those seeking entrance
OF this class was Miss Van Vechten.
whose brother had put up Mr.. Roy
den as Il guest at the q club. The Van
Vechtens had once owned a farm in
the middle of Manhattan Island. and
of such is the oldest and best in New
York society. Furthermore. Miss Van
NechtenS ancestors were prominent in
Revolutionary days. 1t was not to be
expected that in her associations she
would take her cue from any one. In
deed. frequently when she saw her So
cial sisters who had sprung from a
composition of rail or oil magnates
with hotel keepers daughters snubbing
some one she was quite likely to put
upon the snubbed her own aristocratic
seal.
Now, Mrs Tracey. who introduced
Mr. Royden. had made mistakes that
had Slapped her power. She had vouch-
ed for several persons simply on the
ground that they were geniuses, and
one or two of them had made scien-
tiic discoveries that would save the
lives of millions of human beings. She
had not considered that such persons
had no place in society. Consequently
when she took up Mr.. ROyden an op-
position to his admission sprang up on
the part of certain young women whose
fathers had been wreckers and reor-
ganizers of corporations and whose
toilers in early life. 1t was these peo-
pie whom the really aristOcratic Miss
Van Vechten loved to antagonize. The
more they turned the cold shoulder on
Royden the more Miss Van Vechten
loaded him with favors. She was lead
er of Il small set within the larger set
and gradually withdrew the gentleman
into this inner circle.
Had he been man of that promi-
nence especially desirable in the social
world this would have been a mastery
move. for no sooner would he have
been admitted TO Miss Van Vechtens |
coterie than he would have become de-
sirable in a general way. AS it was,
his Introduction only tended to make
him a special rather than a universal
member of the whole.
Meanwhile the only person who ap-
peared to take no interest in Mr.. Roy
den's social admission or rejection was
Mr.. Royden himself. He made no ac-
quaintances at the club where he was
a guest for the simple reason that
the clubs of Gotham are places where
small groups of men who are acQuaint
ed already sit at small tables and
chat; others read the papers, while
others. mostly bachelors. use it as
hotel. Nevertheless in certain respects
it has its being as a whole. Mr.. Roy
den found 1t a convenient place in
which to write his letters and spend
his time when not devoting himself to
Miss Van Veehten. Indeed, having no
occupation during his stay in New
York and neither being interested in
fits social conditions nor its social con-
ditions being interested in him. he
must spend the time somewhere. and
he found Miss Van Vechten's home
very attractive. The Van Vechtens
were a part of the diamond horse
SHOE" name given to that curve of