Burnamypausedinaflowofautobiography，andmodestlywaitedforMissTriscoe’sprompting。Hehadnottowaitlong。
“Andthen，howsoondidyouthinkofprintingyourthingsinabook？”
“Oh，aboutassoonastheybegantotakewiththepublic。”
“Howcouldyoutellthattheywere-taking？”
“Theywerecopiedintootherpapers，andpeopletalkedaboutthem。”
“AndthatwaswhatmadeMr。Stollerwantyoutobehissecretary？”
“Idon’tbelieveitwas。Thetheoryintheofficewasthathedidn’tthinkmuchofthem；butheknowsIcanwriteshorthand，andputthingsintoshape。”
“Whatthings？”
“Oh——ideas。Hehasanotionoftryingtocomeforwardinpolitics。HeownssharesineverythingbuttheUnitedStatesSenate——gas，electricity，railroads，aldermen，newspapers——andnowhewouldlikesomeSenate。
That’swhatIthink。”
Shedidnotquiteunderstand，andshewasfarfromknowingthatthiscynichumorexpressedadeadlierpessimismthanherfather’sfiercestaccusalsofthecountry。“Howfascinatingitis！”shesaid，innocently。
“AndIsupposetheyallenvyyourcomingout？”
“Intheoffice？”
“Yes。Ishouldenvy，them——staying。”
Burnamylaughed。“Idon’tbelievetheyenvyme。Itwon’tbeallrosesforme——theyknowthat。ButtheyknowthatIcantakecareofmyselfifitisn’t。”HerememberedsomethingoneofhisfriendsintheofficehadsaidofthepainfulsurprisetheBirdofPreywouldfeelifheevertriedhisbeakonhiminthebeliefthathewassoft。
Sheabruptlyleftthemerepersonalquestion。“Andwhichwouldyouratherwrite：poemsorthosekindofsketches？”
“Idon’tknow。”saidBurnamy，willingtotalkofhimselfonanyterms。
“Isupposethatproseisthethingforourtime，rathermore；buttherearethingsyoucan’tsayinprose。Iusedtowriteagreatdealofverseincollege；butIdidn’thavemuchluckwitheditorstillMr。Marchtookthislittlepiecefor’EveryOtherWeek’。”
“Little？Ithoughtitwasalongpoem！”
Burnamylaughedatthenotion。“It’sonlyeightlines。”
“Oh！”saidthegirl。“Whatisitabout？”
Heyieldedtothetemptationwithaweaknesswhichhefoundincredibleinapersonofhismake。“Icanrepeatitifyouwon’tgivemeawaytoMrs。
March。”
“Oh，noindeed！”Hesaidthelinesovertoherverysimplyandwell。”
Theyarebeautiful——beautiful！”
“Doyouthinkso？”hegasped，inhisjoyatherpraise。
“Yes，lovely。Doyouknow，youarethefirstliteraryman——theonlyliteraryman——Ievertalkedwith。Theymustgoout——somewhere！Papamustmeetthemathisclubs。ButIneverdo；andsoI’mmakingthemostofyou。”
“Youcan’tmaketoomuchofme，MissTriscoe。”saidBurnamy。
Shewouldnotmindhismocking。“Thatdayyouspokeabout’TheMaidenKnight’，don’tyouknow，Ihadneverheardanytalkaboutbooksinthatway。Ididn’tknowyouwereanauthorthen。”
“Well，I’mnotmuchofanauthornow。”hesaid，cynically，toretrievehisfollyinrepeatinghispoemtoher。
“Oh，thatwilldoforyoutosay。ButIknowwhatMrs。Marchthinks。”
HewishedverymuchtoknowwhatMrs。Marchthought，too；’EveryOtherWeek’wassuchaverygoodplacethathecouldnotconscientiouslyneglectanymeansofhavinghisworkfavorablyconsideredthere；ifMrs。
March’sinterestinitwouldactuponherhusband，oughtnothetoknowjusthowmuchshethoughtofhimasawriter？“Didshelikethepoem。”
MissTriscoecouldnotrecallthatMrs。Marchhadsaidanythingaboutthepoem，butshelaunchedherselfuponthegeneralcurrentofMrs。March’slikingforBurnamy。“Butitwouldn’tdototellyouallshesaid！”
Thiswasnotwhathehoped，butbewasrichlycontentwhenshereturnedtohispersonalhistory。“Andyoudidn’tknowanyonewhen，youwentuptoChicagofrom——“
“Tippecanoe？Notexactlythat。Iwasn’tacquaintedwithanyoneintheoffice，buttheyhadprintedsomethingsofmine，andtheywerewillingtoletmetrymyhand。ThatwasallIcouldask。”
“Ofcourse！Youknewyoucoulddotherest。Well，itislikearomance。
Awomancouldn’thavesuchanadventureasthat！”sighedthegirl。
“Butwomendo！”Burnamyretorted。“Thereisagirlwritingonthepapernow——she’sgoingtodotheliterarynoticeswhileI’mgone——whocametoChicagofromAnnArbor，withnomorechancethanIhad，andwho’smadeherwaysingle-handedfrominterviewingup。”
“Oh。”saidMissTriscoe，withadistinctdropinherenthusiasm。
“Isshenice？”
“She’smightyclever，andshe’sniceenough，too，thoughthekindofjournalismthatwomendoisn’tthemostdignified。Andshe’soneofthebestgirlsIknow，withlotsofsense。”
“Itmustbeveryinteresting。”saidMissTriscoe，withlittleinterestinthewayshesaidit。“Isupposeyou’requitealittlecommunitybyyourselves。”
“Onthepaper？”
“Yes。”
“Well，someofusknowoneanother，intheoffice，butmostofusdon’t。
There’squitearegimentofpeopleonabigpaper。Ifyou’dliketocomeout。”Burnamyventured，“perhapsyoucouldgettheWoman’sPagetodo。”
“What’sthat？”
“Oh，fashion；andpersonalgossipaboutsocietyleaders；andrecipesfordishesanddiseases；andcorrespondenceonpointsofetiquette。”
Heexpectedhertoshudderatthenotion，butshemerelyasked，“Dowomenwriteit？”
Helaughedreminiscently。“Well，notalways。Wehadonemanwhousedtodoitbeautifully——whenhewassober。Thedepartmenthasn’thadanypermanentheadsince。”
Hewassorryhehadsaidthis，butitdidnotseemtoshockher，andnodoubtshehadnottakenitinfully。Sheabruptlyleftthesubject。
“Doyouknowwhattimewereallygetinto-morrow？”
“Aboutone，Ibelieve——there’saconsensusofstewardstothateffect，anyway。”Afterapauseheasked，“AreyoulikelytobeinCarlsbad？”
“WearegoingtoDresden，first，Ibelieve。ThenwemaygoondowntoVienna。Butnothingissettled，yet。”
“AreyougoingdirecttoDresden？”
“Idon’tknow。WemaystayinHamburgadayortwo。”
“I’vegottogostraighttoCarlsbad。There’sasleeping-carthatwillgetmetherebymorning：Mr。Stollerlikeszeal。ButIhopeyou’llletmebeofusetoyouanywayIcan，beforeweparttomorrow。”
“You’reverykind。You’vebeenverygoodalready——topapa。”
Heprotestedthathehadnotbeenatallgood。“Buthe’susedtotakingcareofhimselfontheotherside。Oh，it’sthisside，now！”
“Soitis！Howstrangethatseems！It’sactuallyEurope。Butaslongaswe’reatsea，wecan’trealizeit。Don’tyouhatetohaveexperiencesslipthroughyourfingers？”
“Idon’tknow。Agirldoesn’thavemanyexperiencesofherown；they’realwaysotherpeople’s。”
ThisaffectedBurnamyassoprofoundthathedidnotquestionitstruth。
Heonlysuggested，“Well；sometimestheymakeotherpeoplehavetheexperiences。”
WhetherMissTriscoedecidedthatthiswastoointimateornotsheleftthequestion。“DoyouunderstandGerman？”
“Alittle。Istudieditatcollege，andI’vecultivatedasortofbeer-
gardenGermaninChicago。Icanaskforthings。”
