Burnamypausedinaflowofautobiography，andmodestlywaitedforMissTriscoe’sprompting。Hehadnottowaitlong。
　　“Andthen，howsoondidyouthinkofprintingyourthingsinabook？”
　　“Oh，aboutassoonastheybegantotakewiththepublic。”
　　“Howcouldyoutellthattheywere-taking？”
　　“Theywerecopiedintootherpapers，andpeopletalkedaboutthem。”
　　“AndthatwaswhatmadeMr。Stollerwantyoutobehissecretary？”
　　“Idon’tbelieveitwas。Thetheoryintheofficewasthathedidn’tthinkmuchofthem；butheknowsIcanwriteshorthand，andputthingsintoshape。”
　　“Whatthings？”
　　“Oh——ideas。Hehasanotionoftryingtocomeforwardinpolitics。HeownssharesineverythingbuttheUnitedStatesSenate——gas，electricity，railroads，aldermen，newspapers——andnowhewouldlikesomeSenate。
　　That’swhatIthink。”
　　Shedidnotquiteunderstand，andshewasfarfromknowingthatthiscynichumorexpressedadeadlierpessimismthanherfather’sfiercestaccusalsofthecountry。“Howfascinatingitis！”shesaid，innocently。
　　“AndIsupposetheyallenvyyourcomingout？”
　　“Intheoffice？”
　　“Yes。Ishouldenvy，them——staying。”
　　Burnamylaughed。“Idon’tbelievetheyenvyme。Itwon’tbeallrosesforme——theyknowthat。ButtheyknowthatIcantakecareofmyselfifitisn’t。”HerememberedsomethingoneofhisfriendsintheofficehadsaidofthepainfulsurprisetheBirdofPreywouldfeelifheevertriedhisbeakonhiminthebeliefthathewassoft。
　　Sheabruptlyleftthemerepersonalquestion。“Andwhichwouldyouratherwrite：poemsorthosekindofsketches？”
　　“Idon’tknow。”saidBurnamy，willingtotalkofhimselfonanyterms。
　　“Isupposethatproseisthethingforourtime，rathermore；buttherearethingsyoucan’tsayinprose。Iusedtowriteagreatdealofverseincollege；butIdidn’thavemuchluckwitheditorstillMr。Marchtookthislittlepiecefor’EveryOtherWeek’。”
　　“Little？Ithoughtitwasalongpoem！”
　　Burnamylaughedatthenotion。“It’sonlyeightlines。”
　　“Oh！”saidthegirl。“Whatisitabout？”
　　Heyieldedtothetemptationwithaweaknesswhichhefoundincredibleinapersonofhismake。“Icanrepeatitifyouwon’tgivemeawaytoMrs。
　　March。”
　　“Oh，noindeed！”Hesaidthelinesovertoherverysimplyandwell。”
　　Theyarebeautiful——beautiful！”
　　“Doyouthinkso？”hegasped，inhisjoyatherpraise。
　　“Yes，lovely。Doyouknow，youarethefirstliteraryman——theonlyliteraryman——Ievertalkedwith。Theymustgoout——somewhere！Papamustmeetthemathisclubs。ButIneverdo；andsoI’mmakingthemostofyou。”
　　“Youcan’tmaketoomuchofme，MissTriscoe。”saidBurnamy。
　　Shewouldnotmindhismocking。“Thatdayyouspokeabout’TheMaidenKnight’，don’tyouknow，Ihadneverheardanytalkaboutbooksinthatway。Ididn’tknowyouwereanauthorthen。”
　　“Well，I’mnotmuchofanauthornow。”hesaid，cynically，toretrievehisfollyinrepeatinghispoemtoher。
　　“Oh，thatwilldoforyoutosay。ButIknowwhatMrs。Marchthinks。”
　　HewishedverymuchtoknowwhatMrs。Marchthought，too；’EveryOtherWeek’wassuchaverygoodplacethathecouldnotconscientiouslyneglectanymeansofhavinghisworkfavorablyconsideredthere；ifMrs。
　　March’sinterestinitwouldactuponherhusband，oughtnothetoknowjusthowmuchshethoughtofhimasawriter？“Didshelikethepoem。”
　　MissTriscoecouldnotrecallthatMrs。Marchhadsaidanythingaboutthepoem，butshelaunchedherselfuponthegeneralcurrentofMrs。March’slikingforBurnamy。“Butitwouldn’tdototellyouallshesaid！”
　　Thiswasnotwhathehoped，butbewasrichlycontentwhenshereturnedtohispersonalhistory。“Andyoudidn’tknowanyonewhen，youwentuptoChicagofrom——“
　　“Tippecanoe？Notexactlythat。Iwasn’tacquaintedwithanyoneintheoffice，buttheyhadprintedsomethingsofmine，andtheywerewillingtoletmetrymyhand。ThatwasallIcouldask。”
　　“Ofcourse！Youknewyoucoulddotherest。Well，itislikearomance。
　　Awomancouldn’thavesuchanadventureasthat！”sighedthegirl。
　　“Butwomendo！”Burnamyretorted。“Thereisagirlwritingonthepapernow——she’sgoingtodotheliterarynoticeswhileI’mgone——whocametoChicagofromAnnArbor，withnomorechancethanIhad，andwho’smadeherwaysingle-handedfrominterviewingup。”
　　“Oh。”saidMissTriscoe，withadistinctdropinherenthusiasm。
　　“Isshenice？”
　　“She’smightyclever，andshe’sniceenough，too，thoughthekindofjournalismthatwomendoisn’tthemostdignified。Andshe’soneofthebestgirlsIknow，withlotsofsense。”
　　“Itmustbeveryinteresting。”saidMissTriscoe，withlittleinterestinthewayshesaidit。“Isupposeyou’requitealittlecommunitybyyourselves。”
　　“Onthepaper？”
　　“Yes。”
　　“Well，someofusknowoneanother，intheoffice，butmostofusdon’t。
　　There’squitearegimentofpeopleonabigpaper。Ifyou’dliketocomeout。”Burnamyventured，“perhapsyoucouldgettheWoman’sPagetodo。”
　　“What’sthat？”
　　“Oh，fashion；andpersonalgossipaboutsocietyleaders；andrecipesfordishesanddiseases；andcorrespondenceonpointsofetiquette。”
　　Heexpectedhertoshudderatthenotion，butshemerelyasked，“Dowomenwriteit？”
　　Helaughedreminiscently。“Well，notalways。Wehadonemanwhousedtodoitbeautifully——whenhewassober。Thedepartmenthasn’thadanypermanentheadsince。”
　　Hewassorryhehadsaidthis，butitdidnotseemtoshockher，andnodoubtshehadnottakenitinfully。Sheabruptlyleftthesubject。
　　“Doyouknowwhattimewereallygetinto-morrow？”
　　“Aboutone，Ibelieve——there’saconsensusofstewardstothateffect，anyway。”Afterapauseheasked，“AreyoulikelytobeinCarlsbad？”
　　“WearegoingtoDresden，first，Ibelieve。ThenwemaygoondowntoVienna。Butnothingissettled，yet。”
　　“AreyougoingdirecttoDresden？”
　　“Idon’tknow。WemaystayinHamburgadayortwo。”
　　“I’vegottogostraighttoCarlsbad。There’sasleeping-carthatwillgetmetherebymorning：Mr。Stollerlikeszeal。ButIhopeyou’llletmebeofusetoyouanywayIcan，beforeweparttomorrow。”
　　“You’reverykind。You’vebeenverygoodalready——topapa。”
　　Heprotestedthathehadnotbeenatallgood。“Buthe’susedtotakingcareofhimselfontheotherside。Oh，it’sthisside，now！”
　　“Soitis！Howstrangethatseems！It’sactuallyEurope。Butaslongaswe’reatsea，wecan’trealizeit。Don’tyouhatetohaveexperiencesslipthroughyourfingers？”
　　“Idon’tknow。Agirldoesn’thavemanyexperiencesofherown；they’realwaysotherpeople’s。”
　　ThisaffectedBurnamyassoprofoundthathedidnotquestionitstruth。
　　Heonlysuggested，“Well；sometimestheymakeotherpeoplehavetheexperiences。”
　　WhetherMissTriscoedecidedthatthiswastoointimateornotsheleftthequestion。“DoyouunderstandGerman？”
　　“Alittle。Istudieditatcollege，andI’vecultivatedasortofbeer-
　　gardenGermaninChicago。Icanaskforthings。”