possessions, was not half so solicitous about
them as her friends were. She was tall, dark,
severe, with something Indian-like in the rigid
immobility of her face. Her manner was cold,
and she talked little. Guests felt that they were
receiving, not conferring, a favor when they
stayed at her house. Even the smartest trav-
eling men were flattered when Mrs. Gar-
dener stopped to chat with them for a mo-
ment. The patrons of the hotel were divided
into two classes; those who had seen Mrs.
Gardener's diamonds, and those who had not.

When I stole into the parlor Anson Kirk-
patrick, Marshall Field's man, was at the
piano, playing airs from a musical comedy
then running in Chicago. He was a dapper
little Irishman, very vain, homely as a mon-
key, with friends everywhere, and a sweetheart
in every port, like a sailor. I did not know
all the men who were sitting about, but I recog-
nized a furniture salesman from Kansas City,
a drug man, and Willy O'Reilly, who traveled
for a jewelry house and sold musical instru-
ments. The talk was all about good and bad
hotels, actors and actresses and musical prodi-
gies. I learned that Mrs. Gardener had gone
to Omaha to hear Booth and Barrett, who

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v?