When he entered the hall they stood up and cheered. He cast a swift glance at the door, and seemed to be meditating flight, but many were following behind that. the way was blocked. Then he affected deafness; at all events, he looked before him so stolidly that our palms stole away from each other, ashamed of themselves.
On his table was a large epergne full of lowers. I saw him move chair stealthily, inch by incl until he was fairly behind thi On the right and left he unself in as far as possible bottles and eructs. He then settled down for a jolly evening.
T was too far away to hear what he said when he engaged in conversation. Obviously he was very anxious to be sociable, for when those near him spoke to him he listened with an attention that must have been painful to them if, as is possible, they were only speaking of the weather.
Sometimes it seemed to be a good story, for they laughed, and he flung' himself back in his chair, and waggled his head and slapped his knee, and went through all the mechanical business that accompany ies a laugh but is a suit of clothes without a man in them when, as in is case, the laugh itself won't come. He might have been culled at such a time the photograph of a laugh—a laugh with no inside to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.