Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the city room.djvu/83

 a matter of course instead of speculating about it and fearing that you are doing him an in justice. You need merely say to yourself, 'Well, he acted so badly in that seventeenth incarnation of his that no self-respecting man could have anything to do with him now.' Whereupon you dismiss him from your mind with a contented smile."

He helped her to the fish as he spoke, and they drifted into a light-hearted talk which developed a similarity of taste and point of view that surprised them both. Over the salad he told her of his experiences as a civil engineer in Central America, touching but lightly on the personal side of the narrative, and giving to the incidents a picturesqueness that charmed his guest.

Under the influence of food and friendliness Miss Imboden's spirits revived as a drooping plant straightens itself after a shower. She sipped the glass of champagne he poured out for her and resolutely kept in the background the haunting spectre of to-morrow. It was her duty to be cheerful and companionable. The gas had been lit, and burned softly under colored shades. Through the window she