confessions were made, received, and perfectly understood. All anxiety,

apprehension, uncertainty, vanished out of these young people's hearts

and left them filled with a great peace.

Sellers had had the most confident faith that with the new reinforcement

victory would be at this last moment snatched from the jaws of defeat,

but it was an error. The talk was as stubbornly disjointed as ever.

He was proud of Gwendolen, and liked to show her off, even against Miss

Belle Thompson, and here had been a great opportunity, and what had she

made of it? He felt a good deal put out. It vexed him to think that

this Englishman, with the traveling Briton's everlasting disposition to

generalize whole mountain ranges from single sample-grains of sand, would

jump to the conclusion that American girls were as dumb as himself--

generalizing the whole tribe from this single sample and she at her

poorest, there being nothing at that table to inspire her, give her a

start, keep her from going to sleep. He made up his mind that for the

honor of the country he would bring these two together again over the

social board before long. There would be a different result another

time, he judged. He said to himself, with a deep sense of injury,

He'll put in his diary--they all keep diaries--he'll put in his diary

that she was miraculously uninteresting--dear, dear, but wasn't she!

I never saw the like--and yet looking as beautiful as Satan, too--and

couldn't seem to do anything but paw bread crumbs, and pick flowers to

pieces, and look fidgety. And it isn't any better here in the Hall of

Audience. I've had enough; I'll haul down my flag--the others may fight

it out if they want to."

240

The American Claimant