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 S. It is Coleridge, I think, who says:

V. C. Well twisted, Mrs. Shirley.

Mr. Van Cott has been very eloquent this afternoon singing your praises, my dear Violet, and now he is becoming heroic. Your influence over men is magical, my dear.

In this case I hope it will do no harm, for he is a friend in need.

V. C. Mrs. Barron! (deprecatingly)!

D. Violet, I would like you to dine with me quietly this evening.

(starting). What, dear Clara?

(apart). Birds of a feather flock together.

S. Jane, let us go. This convinces me of the truth of the old Indian saying that when a bad act is once started, it takes all the wisdom of Buddha to avoid its pathway. We must not allow our minds to become receptive in this case. By a process of mental exclusion * * *

Excuse me, Mrs. Shirley, but “mental exclusion” implies having a mind.

S. Well?

V. C. Ladies, this conversation is getting to be altogether too serious for a tea. You should each write a treatise on the subject and compare notes at the next meeting of the Thursday Night Club.

Pray tell me, Violet, where is “Sidney, warbler of poetic prose.”