While the woman was in the lavatory, the girls, glancing around, saw me. Their prolonged stare was followed by an animated discussion. What was there about my appearance to cause anyone to single me out for special comment? The quickest way to settle the question seemed to be to drag my chair across the floor and join the group. “Hello!” I greeted the five as I planted my chair facing them. “’Ello!” was their relieved chorus, and cordial smiles flashed over the five faces which an instant before had reflected surprise with a glint of fear. “’Merican?” the girl nearest asked, and before I could reply the others questioned in chorus “’Merican?” “Sure, I’m an American,” I assured them, and very gravely I shook, in turn, five surprisingly large hands. This rite finished, the girl next me reached over and stroked my muff. It was so evident that the others wished to do the same thing that I handed the muff over. It was passed around the circle, each girl stroking it and pressing it for an instant against her cheek—a movement too distinctly feminine to need explanation. Once the muff was back in my possession their interest shifted to my shoes. “Did they expect me to pass my shoes around for inspection?” was the query that flashed through my mind. Fortunately the woman returned at that instant. She explained that the girls could not understand why an American woman with mink furs should wear such unfashionable shoes. The girls, all five of them, understanding her explanation, stuck out their feet evidently sure of my approval. They wore silk stockings with the latest cut of low shoes—high French heels with needle-pointed toes. The woman informed me that silk stockings and American shoes were always the first purchase made by an immigrant woman on landing in this country. My reason for spending the first night of my adventure in the Grand Central was because Polly Preston would not have money enough to go to a hotel and, being a stranger in New York, would know nothing of the municipal lodging-house for women. It was far from a disagreeable experience—that night in the woman’s waiting-room. Indeed, my attention was so absorbed by watching the persons around me, that the announcement of an early train for the West came as a distinct surprise. By the clock it was within a few minutes of five—a new day had come.