When the music stopped Ramon left the hall for the hotel lobby, where he soothed his sensibilities with a small brown cigarette of his own making. In one of the swinging benches covered with Navajo blankets two other dress-suited youths were seated, smoking and talking. One of them was a short, plump Jew with a round and gravely good-natured face; the other a tall, slender young fellow with a great mop of curly brown hair, large soft eyes and a sensitive mouth. “She’s good looking, all right,” the little fellow assented, as Ramon came up. “Good looking!” exclaimed the other with enthusiasm. “She’s a little queen! Nothing like her ever hit this town before.” “Who’s all the excitement about?” Ramon demanded, thrusting himself into the conversation with the easy familiarity which was his right as one of “the bunch.” Sidney Felberg turned to him in mock amazement. “Good night, Ramon! Where have you been? Asleep? We’re talking about Julia Roth, same as everybody else.…” “Who’s she?” Ramon queried coolly, discharging a cloud of smoke from the depths of his lungs. “Never heard of her.” “Well, she’s our latest social sensation … sister of some rich lunger that recently hit town; therefore very important. But that’s not the only reason. Wait till you see her.” “All right; introduce me to her,” Ramon suggested. “Go on; knock him down to the lady,” Sidney proposed to his companion. “No, you,” Conny demurred. “I refuse to take the responsibility. He’s too good looking.” “All right,” Sidney assented. “Come on. It’s the only way I can get a look at her anyway—introducing somebody else. A good-looking girl in this town can start a regular stampede. We ought to import a few hundred.…” It was during an intermission. They forced their way through a phalanx of men brandishing programs and pencils, each trying to bring himself exclusively to the attention of a small blonde person who seemed to have some such quality of attractiveness for men as spilled honey has for insects. When Ramon saw her he felt as though something inside of him had bumped up against his diaphragm, taking away his breath for a moment, agitating him strangely. And he saw an answering surprised recognition in her wide grey eyes. “You … you’re the girl on the train,” he remarked idiotically, as he took her hand. She turned pink and laughed. “You’re the man that wouldn’t look up,” she mocked. “What’s all this about?” demanded Sidney. “You two met before?” “May I have a dance?” Ramon inquired, suddenly recovering his presence of mind. “Let me see … you’re awfully late.” They put their heads close together over her program. He saw her cut out the name of another man who had two dances, and then she held her pencil poised. “Of course I didn’t get your name,” she admitted.