"Shall I flatter myself that even in the midst of the select party occupying my box you really missed me?" "Certainly I missed you--all the more because some of them chattered, and you would have hushed the tattle." "Am I so successful in the role of ogre as to over-awe my guests in an opera box?" "Your quiet way of setting an example of good breeding is sometimes contagious among thoughtless people." "My lucky star is surely ascending: you have paid me two compliments, and I am puzzled to know whether I shall be expected to balance my account at _ad valorem_ rates on the basis of your assessment or mine?" "Oh, you and I established free trade long ago, and I can always tell you the truth without pausing to weigh words as do legation attaches, and as father does when wily lobbyists intercept him on his way from committee rooms. Mr. Noel, had you any special reason for absenting yourself? The lovely lilac orchids were, of course, far more ornamental in your empty chair, and you must not think me lacking in appreciation because I am so tardy in thanking you for them." "An unexpected change in the date of a lecture given by one of my friends kept me away, when I had hoped to join you. As I had promised to attend, there was no alternative when a belated note informed me that last night had been selected for its delivery." "Tell me about it." "If I should so afflict you, most certainly you would vote me a bore, or fall asleep in self-defence." "When you say that, you know curiosity always covets the forbidden." "At your peril then! It was a monograph on the autochthonic origin of American races, and by way of ornamentation bristled with such graceful trifles as cephalic index, _brachycephalic_, and _dolichocephalic_, and was sprinkled with the curry of _Votanic_ legends, and choice tid-bits from the Quiche _Popol Vuh_ and from _Codex Chimalpopoco_! Sounds spicy, doesn't it? Piques your appetite for a larger slice?" "No, thank you. Yet you preferred that tiresome jargon to listening to a superb tenor solo?" "In a way--yes. We all ride hobby-horses from the nursery to the cemetery, and it is merely a question of individual taste what blood strain or pedigree we choose. My racing stable is not so generously supplied as yours, which embraces colts of various breeds: reports of fisheries commissions, bounties, American tonnage from 18-- to 18--, and a vast----" "Sarcasm does not fit you becomingly, Mr. Noel; it hangs askew, like a clown's cap on a cowl. What have you registered your own special toy, that you canter so vigorously around the world? Is it called ethnology, or totemism, or anthropology?" "When I have finished trying all its gaits, and find the sum total satisfactory, I shall label it, and fit a comfortable side saddle and introduce you formally. Now, Miss Kent, come to confession. Did you see the list of passengers who arrived on yesterday's steamer from Liverpool?" "I did not."