“ Despairing . ” “ Oh , dinner ! Dinner , to a broken heart ! ” “ But I tell you it is ! I ought to know when my own heart is broken , I should hope . What makes you think it is n't ? ” “ But this is a real case . You ought to feel my forehead . It 's as hot ! ” “ No ; I should feel worse . The idea of household gods makes me sick . Sylvan deities are what I want ; the great god Pan among the cat-tails and arrow-heads in the ‘ ma'sh ’ at Ponkwasset ; the dryads of the birch woods — there are no oaks ; the nymphs that haunt the heights and hollows of the dear old mountain ; the ” - “ That 's because you keep fussing about so . Why do n't you be quiet , if you want to hear ? ” She lifts her voice to its highest pitch , with a pause for distinctness between the words : “ I 'm heart - broken for — Ponkwasset . The dryads — of the — birch woods . The nymphs — and the great — god — Pan — in the reeds — by the river . And all — that — sort of — thing ! ” “ I 'm not ? What 's the reason I 'm not ? Then , what am I heart-broken for ? ” “ Who ? ” “ Oh , how cruel you are , to mock me so ! Come in here , and sympathize a little ! Do , Nettie . ” “ When they want to be disagreeable ! ” “ I 'm that now . I can n't be more so — there 's that comfort . What makes you think he 'll call ? ” “ No , Nettie ; I behaved rudely to HIM . Yes ! Besides , if he behaved rudely , he was no gentleman . It 's a contradiction in terms , do n't you see ? But I 'll tell you what I 'm going to do if he comes . I 'm going to show a proper spirit for once in my life . I 'm going to refuse to see him . You 've got to see him . ” “ Why nonsense ? Oh , why ? Expound ! ” “ I 'm NOT ! You know it perfectly well . I 'm hideous . ” “ DEPENDENT property , I should call it : just enough to be useless on ! But that 's insulting to HIM . How can you say it 's because I have a little money ? ” “ You 're NOT old . You 're as young as anybody , Nettie Spaulding . And you know I 'm not young ; I 'm twenty-seven , if I 'm a day . I 'm just dropping into the grave . But I can n't argue with you , miles off so , any longer . ” Miss Reed appears at the open door , dragging languidly after her the shawl which she had evidently drawn round her on the sofa ; her fair hair is a little disordered , and she presses it into shape with one hand as she comes forward ; a lovely flush vies with a heavenly pallor in her cheeks ; she looks a little pensive in the arching eyebrows , and a little humorous about the dimpled mouth . “ Now I can prove that you are entirely wrong . Where- - were you ?— This room is rather an improvement over the one we had last winter . There is more of a view ” — she goes to the window — “ of the houses across the Place ; and I always think the swell front gives a pretty shape to a room . I 'm sorry they 've stopped building them . Your piano goes very nicely into that little alcove . Yes , we 're quite palatial . And , on the whole , I 'm glad there 's no fireplace . It 's a pleasure at times ; but for the most part it 's a vanity and a vexation , getting dust and ashes over everything . Yes ; after all , give me the good old-fashioned , clean , convenient register ! Ugh ! My feet are like ice . ” She pulls an easy-chair up to the register in the corner of the room , and pushes open its valves with the toe of her slipper . As she settles herself luxuriously in the chair , and poises her feet daintily over the register : “ Ah , this is something like ! Henrietta Spaulding , ma'am ! Did I ever tell you that you were the best friend I have in the world ? ” MISS SPAULDING , who continues her work of arranging the room : “ Often . ” “ Did you ever believe it ? ” “ Why ? ” MISS SPAULDING , thoughtfully regarding a vase which she holds in her hand , after several times shifting it from a bracket to the corner of her piano and back : “ I wish I could tell where you do look best ! ” MISS REED , leaning forward wistfully , with her hands clasped and resting on her knees : “ I wish you would tell me WHY you do n't believe you 're the best friend I have in the world . ” MISS SPAULDING , finally placing the vase on the bracket : “ Because you 've said so too often . ” “ Oh , that 's no reason ! I can prove to you that you are . Who else but you would have taken in a homeless and friendless creature like me , and let her stay bothering round in demoralizing idleness , while you were seriously teaching the young idea how to drub the piano ? ” “ And you 're not afraid that you wrong yourself ? ” “ Well , be it so — as they say in novels . I will not contradict you ; I will not say you are my BEST friend ; I will merely say that you are my ONLY friend . Come here , Henrietta . Draw up your chair , and put your little hand in mine . ” MISS SPAULDING , with severe distrust : “ What do you want , Ethel Reed ? ” “ I want — I want — to talk it over with you . ” MISS SPAULDING , recoiling : “ I knew it ! Well , now , we 've talked it over enough ; we 've talked it over till there 's nothing left of it . ” “ Oh , there 's everything left ! It remains in all its original enormity . Perhaps we shall get some new light upon it . ” She extends a pleading hand towards Miss Spaulding . “ Come , Henrietta , my only friend , shake !— as the ‘ good Indians ’ say . Let your Ethel pour her hackneyed sorrows into your bosom . Such an uncomfortable image , it always seems , does n't it , pouring sorrows into bosoms ! Come ! ” MISS SPAULDING , decidedly : “ No , I wo n't ! And you need n't try wheedling any longer . I wo n't sympathize with you on that basis at all . ” “ What shall I try , then , if you wo n't let me try wheedling ? ” MISS SPAULDING , going to the piano and opening it : “ Try courage ; try self-respect . ” “ Oh , dear ! when I have n't a morsel of either . Are you going to practise , you cruel maid ? ” “ Well , well , perhaps it 's all for the best . If music be the food of — umph-ump !— you know what !— play on . ” They both laugh , and Miss Spaulding pushes back a little from the piano , and wheels toward her friend , letting one hand rest slightly on the keys . “ Correct ! ” “ Ah , there you wrong me , Henrietta ! I have been , and I shall be — lots of times . ” “ I will free my mind with neatness and despatch . I simply wish to go over the whole affair , from Alfred to Omaha ; and you 've got to let me talk as much slang and nonsense as I want . And then I 'll skip all the details I can . Will you ? ” MISS SPAULDING , with impatient patience : “ Oh , I suppose so ! ” “ That 's very sweet of you , though you do n't look it . Now , where was I ? Oh , yes , do you think it was forth-putting at all , to ask him if he would give me the lessons ? ” “ I asked him from — from — Let me see ; I asked him because - - from — Yes , I say it boldly ; I asked him from an enthusiasm for art , and a sincere wish to learn the use of oil , as he called it . Yes ! ” “ Sure ? Well , we will say that I am , for the sake of argument . And , having secured this basis , the question is whether I was n't bound to offer him pay at the end , and whether he was n't wrong to take my doing so in dudgeon . ” “ No , no . I 've told you everything — everything ! ” : “ Nothing . ” MISS SPAULDING , sternly : “ Yes , you do , Ethel . ” “ I do n't , really . What makes you ’ think I do ? ” “ Did it ? I did n't mean it to . ” Her friend breaks down with a laugh , while Miss Reed preserves a demure countenance . “ Nothing at all — less than nothing ! I never thought it was worth mentioning . ” “ I 'm telling you the truth and something more . You can n't ask better than that , can you ? ” MISS SPAULDING , turning to her music again : “ Certainly not . ” in a pathetic wail : “ O Henrietta ! do you abandon me thus ? Well , I will tell you , heartless girl ! I 've only kept it back till now because it was so extremely mortifying to my pride as an artist — as a student of oil . Will you hear me ? ” MISS SPAULDING , beginning to play : “ No . ” MISS REED , with burlesque wildness : “ You shall ! ” Miss Spaulding involuntarily desists . “ There was a moment — a fatal moment — when he said he thought he ought to tell me that if I found oil amusing I could go on ; but that he did n't believe I should ever learn to use it , and he could n't let me take lessons from him with the expectation that I should . There ! ” MISS SPAULDING , with awful reproach : “ And you call that less than nothing ? I 've almost a mind never to speak to you again , Ethel . How COULD you deceive me so ? ” “ Was it really deceiving ? I should n't call it so . And I needed your sympathy so much , and I knew I should n't get it unless you thought I was altogether in the right . ” “ Why — do n't you see , Nettie ?— I did keep on taking the lessons of him . I did find oil amusing — or the oilist — and I kept on . Of course I had to , off there in a farmhouse full of lady boarders , and he the only gentleman short of Crawford 's . Strike , but hear me , Henrietta Spaulding ! What was I to do about the half-dozen lessons I had taken before he told me I should never learn to use oil ? Was I to offer to pay him for these , and not for the rest ; or was I to treat the whole series as gratuitous ? I used to lie awake thinking about it . I 've got little tact , but I could n't find any way out of the trouble . It was a box — yes , a box of the deepest dye ! And the whole affair having got to be — something else , do n't you know ?— made it all the worse . And if he 'd only — only — But he did n't . Not a syllable , not a breath ! And there I was . I HAD to offer him the money . And it 's almost killed me — the way he took my offering it , and now the way you take it ! And it 's all of a piece . ” Miss Reed suddenly snatches her handkerchief from her pocket , and buries her face in it .— “ Oh , dear — oh , dear ! Oh !— hu , hu , hu ! ” MISS SPAULDING , relenting : “ It was awkward . ” “ Awkward ! You seem to think that because I carry things off lightly I have no feeling . ” “ It 's not that I care for him ” - “ For I do n't in the least . He is horrid every way : blunt , and rude , and horrid . I never cared for him . But I care for myself ! He has put me in the position of having done an unkind thing — an unladylike thing — when I was only doing what I had to do . Why need he have taken it the way he did ? Why could n't he have said politely that he could n't accept the money because he had n't earned it ? Even THAT would have been mortifying enough . But he must go and be so violent , and rush off , and — Oh , I never could have treated anybody so ! ” “ What ? ” “ He 's let me wither for twenty-four hours already ! But it 's nothing to me , now , how long he lets me wither . I 'm perfectly satisfied to have the affair remain as it is . I am in the right , and if he comes I shall refuse to see him . ” “ Yes , I shall . I shall receive him very coldly . I wo n't listen to any excuse from him . ” “ No , I shall not . If he wishes me to listen he must begin by humbling himself in the dust — yes , the dust , Nettie ! I wo n't take anything short of it . I insist that he shall realize that I have suffered . ” “ Oh , HE suffered ! ” “ He never said so . ” “ He dared to be very insolent to me . ” “ I wo n't let you say that , Nettie Spaulding . I DIDN'T like him . I respected and admired him ; but I did n't LIKE him . He will come near me ; but if he does he has to begin by — by — Let me see , what shall I make him begin by doing ? ” She casts up her eyes for inspiration while she leans forward over the register . “ Yes , I will ! He has got to begin by taking that money ! ” “ Would n't I ? You wait and SEE , Miss Spaulding ! He shall take the money , and he shall sign a receipt for it . I 'll draw up the receipt now , so as to have it ready , and I shall ask him to sign it the very moment he enters this door — the very instant ! ” She takes a portfolio from the table near her , without rising , and writes : “ ‘ Received from Miss Ethel Reed one hundred and twenty-five dollars , in full , for twenty-five lessons in oil-painting . ’ There — when Mr. Oliver Ransom has signed this little document he may begin to talk ; not before ! ” She leans back in her chair with an air of pitiless determination . “ I do n't say but what , after he 's taken the money and signed the receipt , I 'll listen to anything else he 's got to say , very willingly . ” Miss Spaulding makes no answer , but begins to play with a scientific absorption , feeling her way fitfully through the new piece , while Miss Reed , seated by the register , trifles with the book she has taken from the table . II . The interior of the room of Miss Spaulding and Miss Reed remains in view , while the scene discloses , on the other side of the partition wall in the same house , the bachelor apartment of Mr. Samuel Grinnidge . Mr. Grinnidge in his dressing-gown and slippers , with his pipe in his mouth , has the effect of having just come in ; his friend Mr. Oliver Ransom stands at the window , staring out into the November weather . “ Nothing , nothing ; I — I — thought it was getting too warm . Go on , dear ; do n't let me interrupt you . ” After a moment of heroic self-denial she softly presses the register open with her foot . RANSOM , coming back to the register : “ It all began in that way . I had the good fortune one day to rescue her from a — cow . ” “ Oh , for shame ! ” MISS SPAULDING , desisting from her piano : “ What IS the matter ? ” MISS REED , clapping the register to : “ This ridiculous book ! But do n't — do n't mind me , Nettie . ” Breathlessly : “ Go — go — on ! ” Miss Spaulding resumes , and again Miss Reed softly presses the register open . RANSOM , after a pause : “ The cow was grazing , and had no more thought of hooking Miss — ” “ Oh , I did n't suppose he WOULD !— Go on , Nettie , go on ! The hero — SUCH a goose ! ” “ Oh ! ” She shuts the register , but instantly opens it again . “ Louder , Nettie . ” MISS SPAULDING , in astonishment : “ What ? ” “ Did I speak ? I did n't know it . I ” - MISS SPAULDING , desisting from practice : “ What is that strange , hollow , rumbling , mumbling kind of noise ? ” MISS REED , softly closing the register with her foot : “ I do n't hear any strange , hollow , rumbling , mumbling kind of noise . Do you hear it NOW ? ” “ Oh , very likely . ” As Miss Spaulding turns again to her practice Miss Reed re-opens the register and listens again . A little interval of silence ensues , while Ransom lights a cigarette . “ Oh , DID you , indeed ! ” To Miss Spaulding , who bends an astonished glance upon her from the piano : “ The man in this book is the most CONCEITED creature , Nettie . Play chords — something very subdued — ah ! ” “ Oh !— Go on , Nettie ; do n't let my outbursts interrupt you . ” “ You wretch !— Oh , scales , Nettie ! Play scales ! ” “ Oh , you silly , silly thing !— Really this book makes me sick , Nettie . ” “ No , sir ! You HADN'T ! ” MISS SPAULDING gradually ceases to play , and fixes her attention wholly upon Miss Reed , who bends forward over the register with an intensely excited face . “ No , no ; not any more . But — but — Oh , dear ! what shall I do ? ” She still struggles in the embrace of her friend . GRINNIDGE , remaining quietly at the register , while Ransom walks away to the window : “ Well , what did you do ? ” “ There , there ! They 're commencing again ! DO open it , Nettie . I WILL have it open ! ” She wrenches herself free , and dashes the register open . “ That 's Ol — Mr . Ransom . And , oh , I can n't make out what he 's saying ! He must have gone away to the other side of the room — and it 's at the most important point ! ” MISS SPAULDING , in an awful undertone : “ Was that the hollow rumbling I heard ? And have you been listening at the register to what they 've been saying ? O ETHEL ! ” “ I have n't been listening , exactly . ” “ Eavesdropping is listening through a key-hole , or around a corner . This is very different . Besides , it 's Oliver , and he 's been talking about ME . Hark ! ” She clutches her friend 's hand , where they have crouched upon the floor together , and pulls her forward to the register . “ Oh , dear , how hot it is ! I wish they would cut off the heat down below . ” GRINNIDGE , smoking peacefully through the silence which his friend has absent-mindedly let follow upon his last words : “ Well , you seem disposed to take your time about it . ” “ ‘ Sh ! Listen . ” : “ How he DOES go to the heart of the matter ! ” She presses Miss Spaulding 's hand in an ecstasy of approval . “ Oh , how generous ! how noble ! ” “ How can he say it right out so bluntly ? But if it 's true ” - “ Oh , how little they know us , Nettie ! ” “ There ! NOW do you call it eavesdropping ? If listeners never hear any good of themselves , what do you say to that ? It proves that I have n't been listening . ” “ You HAD , you poor thing ! ” “ ‘ Sh ! ” “ My very words ! ” “ Oh , the horrid thing ! ” “ Oh , was it , indeed ! Well ! ” “ Do n't you think he 's VERY humorous ? Give his good resolutions a rest ! That 's the way he ALWAYS talks . ” “ How droll they are with each other ! Do n't you LIKE to hear them talk ? Oh , I could listen all day . ” GRINNIDGE , calling after Ransom : “ You have n't told me your duck 's name . ” “ Is THAT what they call us ? Duck ! Do you think it 's very respectful , Nettie ? I do n't believe I like it . Or , yes , why not ? It 's no harm — if I AM his duck ! ” RANSOM , coming back : “ Well , I do n't propose to go shouting it round . Her name is Miss Reed — Ethel Reed . ” “ How CAN he ? ” “ Indigenous ! I should hope so ! ” “ Now he 'll have to go down to the parlor and send up his name , and that just gives me time to do the necessary prinking . You stay here and receive him , Nettie . ” “ For shame , Nettie ! I 'm NOT in love with him . ” “ Receive him in the parlor ! Why , Nettie , dear , you 're crazy ! I 'm going to ACCEPT him : and how can I accept him — with all the consequences — in a public parlor ? No , indeed ! If you wo n't meet him here for a moment , just to oblige me , you can go into the other room . Or , no — you 'd be listening to every word through the key-hole , you 're so demoralized ! ” “ Oh ! Ask him to come up here , please .— Nettie ! Nettie ! ” She calls to her friend in the next room . “ He 's coming right up , and if you do n't run you 're trapped . ” MISS SPAULDING , re-appearing , cloaked and bonneted : “ I do n't blame YOU , Ethel , comparatively speaking . You can say that everything is fair in love . He will like it , and laugh at it in you , because he 'll like everything you 've done . Besides , you 've no principles , and I HAVE . ” “ Oh , I 've lots of principles , Nettie , but I 've no practice ! ” “ I wo n't give you away ; if you really feel so badly ” -