"I see by your clothes-line," he said, "that you have much taste and dress well. Your fish-line shows that you have extraordinary luck in catching anything you want. There are many victories along your line of march. There is a pronounced line of beauty here; in fact, all your lines are cast in pleasant places. You will have a very good hand at whatever game you play, and whoever is fortunate enough to marry you will surely take the palm." He retired gracefully, followed by laughter and applause, and was not troubled by more requests. Clytie whispered to him: "I think you saved yourself with honor. It was a test, but I was sure of you!" Mrs. Maxwell, immensely relieved, almost immediately gave the signal for the ladies to leave. After the men had reseated themselves, heavy Chinese pipes with small bowls were passed about. Most of the guests tried a few puffs of the mild tobacco, and then reached for cigarettes or cigars. As the doors to the drawing-room were shut they drew closer together and began to talk more freely. Blanchard Cayley came over and sat down beside Granthope in Clytie’s empty chair. He, too, had taken off his wig. His smile was ingratiating, his voice was suave, as he said: "I don’t want to make you talk shop if you don’t care to, Granthope, but I’d like to know if you ever heard of reading the character by thumb-prints. I don’t know exactly what you’d call it—papilamancy, perhaps." "I don’t think it has ever been done, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t be," said Granthope, amused. "What is necessary to make it a science?" Granthope, quicker with women than with men, was at a loss to see what Cayley was driving at, but he suspected a trap, and foresaw that his science was to be impugned. He countermined: "Oh, first of all, a classification and a terminology," he suggested. Cayley was caught neatly. He was more ignorant than he knew. "Why don’t you classify the markings then? I should think it might be considered a logical development of chiromancy." "One reason is, because they have already been classified by Galton. I’ve forgotten most of it, but I remember some of the primary divisions. Have you a pencil?" Cayley unbuttoned and threw open his plum-colored, long-sleeved ’dun,’ disclosing evening dress underneath, and produced a pencil which he gave to the palmist. Granthope smoothed out his paper napkin, and, as he talked, drew illustrative diagrams upon it.