We are all plain people here. If any of us
forget our plainness there are plenty who are glad enough to remind us of
it."
"Are you plain, too?"
"The plainest of the lot."
"You don't seem so; you look awfully ornamental, with that ribbon and
all." The "all" meant the wave in his hair, the lustre of his eyes, the
upward flaunt of his mustache which hid in no degree the white, firm
evenness of his teeth, the freshness of a second gardenia--even the sheen
of his shapely shoes.
"The ribbon--you like it? Sorry I'm wearing only one. How would you have
liked a second running the opposite way? Or a third pinned on behind?"
"Oh, you!--How about all these other young men; are they anybody?"
"What other young men?"
"The ones with these criss-cross red ribbons."
"Oh! Well, some few of them have what you might call position, and some
are working for it, and some are not thinking anything about it; and
some, after having served their purpose, will be dropped soon enough, I
promise you."
"And you yourself--are you in, or out, or not thinking about it, or-"
"I?" returned Truesdale, carelessly. "I'm just a passer-by; I'm on my way
to Japan."
"Oh no; not Japan!" said the girl, quickly.
"Japan, I assure you," he smiled.
She caught herself. "To escape my uncle, then?"
"Why that, in Heaven's name?"
"You have offended him."
"Dear me! How?"
"By what you said at the house the other night. About the costumes, you
know.
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