She said this in rather an absent manner, as though the fact to which she called attention were almost too obvious for remark. Certainly it was not said in any way to impel Armitage to introduce himself, and he had no wish to take advantage of a lame opportunity. "Yes," he said, seating himself at one end of the table; "it impresses me that way, too." To say that the biscuits were delicious and the coffee uplifting, inspiring, would, in the mind of all who have shared the matutinal hospitality of the steward of the _General_, be an inadequate expression of gastronomic gratitude. Let it be sufficient to note that Anne Wellington beamed gratefully upon the steward, who, expanding under the genial influence, discussed his art with rare unction. "The secret," he said, leaning confidentially over the back of Miss Wellington's chair, "is to be sparin' of the yeast; and then there is somethin' in raisin' 'em proper. Now, the last time Mrs. Jack Vanderlip was down here, she made me give her the receipt for them identical biscuits; gave me a dollar for it." "Mrs. Jack Vanderlip!" cried Miss Wellington, "did she ever grace your table?" "Did she ever grace this table! Well, I should say so, and the Tyler girls and Hammie Van Rensselaer and Billy Anstruther,--he comes down here often." Miss Wellington laughed. "I often have marvelled at Billy's peach-blow complexion," she said; "now I have the secret." "Don't tell him I said so, Miss Wellington," said the steward. The girl, with a biscuit poised daintily in her fingers, did not seem surprised to hear her name. "Your acquaintance is rather exten--rather large," she said. The steward actually blushed. "I live in Newport, miss," he said. "Oh!" That was all, and the curious little smile did not leave her face. But Armitage noticed that in some way the steward found no further opportunity for exercising his garrulity. Evidently she assumed that Armitage now knew whom she was, if he had not known before the steward uttered her name, for he noticed a slight modifying of her previous attitude of thorough enjoyment. For his part, Armitage of course had no reason for altering his bearing, and that he did not was observed and appreciated by his companion. This eventually had the effect of restoring both to their former footing. "Yes," she said finally, "it has been rather a novel experience. I am indebted to you." "Not to me," said Armitage. Then, by way of conversation, "novel experiences, as a rule, are not so easily had." "No, I grasp them whenever," she jerked her head toward the cabin above and smiled, "whenever I can, conveniently. My old tutor in Munich was always impressing it upon me never to neglect such opportunities." "Opportunities? Oh, I see--slumming." Armitage glanced about the apartment and laughed. She frowned.