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 of them got money in quantity, and they had their own murky little trading celebrities, dismal bragging beings wholly unknown on the heights above. And it was with one of these that Mme. Momoro preferred to spend hours alone!

"Preferred" was the galling word in Ogle's mind. For it had become clear to him that although she was "nice" to him and to Macklyn and Albert Jones, and, when she had nothing more to her taste to do, gladly made herself their gay and sympathetic companion, what she preferred was Tinker.

All in all, the young man felt that he was getting a rather severe lesson in both the variety and the singularity of human tastes and viewpoints. Upon the matter of their singularity, moreover, he received further enlightenment as he was preparing to retire, this last evening before the "Duumvir" left the Atlantic for the Mediterranean. For days he had heard nothing through the closed door between the adjoining cabin and his own, except commonplace fragments from Mrs. Tinker concerning dress, to which Olivia responded in monosyllables; but to-night the elder lady was more discursive.

"One thing I've been sort of disappointed about, so far," she said. "I always heard you were likely to