Page:The Diothas, or, A far look ahead (IA diothasorfarlook01macn).pdf/33

 merely. The idea of showing respect to any one by means of an unmeaning prefix to his name would to them have seemed as ridiculous as does to us the Oriental custom of showing regard to a guest by cramming his month with some supposed dainty.

It may be as well to explain, in this connection, the peculiar system of family nomenclature I found to prevail. The family name, simple before marriage, became compound after. Thus, the parents of Reva, known as Niata Diotha and Hulmar Edial before their marriage, then assumed the names Niata Diotha-Edial and Hulmar Diotha-Edial respectively. Of this compound family name girls assumed only the part derived from their mother; boys, that derived from their father. Thus, Reva's legal name was Reva Diotha, and would remain so till marriage. Her brother's name, again, was Olav Edial.

One manifest result of this system of nomenclature was, that women preserved their distinctive family names from generation to generation, as only men do at present. A girl like Reva, indeed, was as proud to trace her lineage through a long line of Diothas as is any Guelph or Rolan to trace his to an ancestor dimly discernible in the twilight of history.

On being introduced to Reva as Ismar Thiusen, I could plainly perceive that the name was not that of a stranger, but seemingly of one well known by report, at least, though never before seen. She turned upon me, with a look of frank interest, those eyes to which the long, curling lashes lent an indescribable charm. If there was a trace of shyness, it was rather that of a high-bred lad, when presented to a personage of some interest, than the ordinary self-consciousness of a girl.