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226 sort of pride who were shabbily dressed, and others who had the tenderest, most loving hearts hidden under rich apparel.

You and I think that we know all about good manners, and yet, just as the cut of the gown and the shape of the hat in the big city differ from those worn in the little town, so there are some customs that are different, and if we wish to gain a social position we must notice and imitate them. I may be none the less a clever woman, and yet drink my tea from a cup with my spoon in it; but my cleverness would amount to very little if I did not discover that people generally do not do this. You may be as pretty as possible, but people will forget your prettiness if they see you cutting your asparagus and eating it from a fork rather than from the stalk held in your fingers. These are little things, but the little things that you and I must learn if we wish to be something more than mere strangers.

Then, when in answer to a letter of introduction, somebody who could be of help, socially, to both of us calls on us, leaving a card on which her reception-day is engraved, we make the mistake of returning her visit on some other day only to be told that she is not at home. Now, the wisest