interior he had as yet caught only tempting glimpses.

As he greeted his hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gray, Judge Calvin Gray,
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Gray, wondering a little where the rest of the
family could be, his eye fell upon the musicians, and the problem was
solved. Ruth, the sixteen-year-old, sat before a harp; Louis, the elder
son, cherished a violin under his chin; Roberta--ah, there she was!
wearing a dull-blue evening frock above which gleamed her white neck,
her half-uncovered arms showing exquisite curves as she handled the bow
which was drawing long, rich notes from the violoncello at her knee.

Not one of the trio looked up until the nocturne they were playing was
done. Then they rose together, laying aside their instruments, and made
the guest welcome. He had a vivid impression of being done peculiar
honour by their recognition of him as a new friend, for so they received
him. As he looked from one to another of their faces he experienced
another of those curious sensations which had from time to time assailed
him ever since he had first put his head inside the door of this house,
the sensation of looking in upon a new world of which he had known
nothing, and of being strangely drawn by all he saw there. It was not
alone the effect of meeting a more than ordinarily alluring girl, for
each member of the family had for him something of this drawing quality.
As he studied them it was clear to him that they belonged together, that
they loved each other, that the very walls of this old home were
eloquent of the life lived here.

He had of course seen and noted families before, noted them carelessly
enough: rich families, poor families, big families, little, newly begun
families; but of a certain sort of family of which this was the
interesting and inviting type he knew as little as the foreigner, newly