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the haughty young lady in green satin who swept by them into a waiting barouche.
    They entered the lobby and she gave a gasp. They seemed to be swimming over a vast sea of red plush carpeting. She had a confused impression of thousands of mirrors which reflected thousands of gilded gas jets, of marble columns interspersed with hordes of people. No one paid the slightest attention to them, and again they wavered uncertainly, until Ephraim discovered a marble desk at the far end of the lobby. Behind this stood a bored young man drumming his fingers.
    'Must be the tavern-keeper,' muttered Ephraim. He lumbered across the carpet with Miranda in his wake.
    The bored young man looked them up and down, lifted one black eyebrow, and said, 'Well, my good man, what can I do for you?'
    'We're to meet a Mr. Nicholas Van Ryn here,' said Ephraim. 'Perhaps you could tell—' He stopped in an amazement shared by Miranda.
    The bored young man was galvanized. He bowed, he smiled not once but in a rapid succession of ever more ingratiating smirks, he rang bells, he beckoned to underlings who materialized from behind the pillars. 'But, of course!' he cried. You are Mr. and Miss Wells. Mr. Van Ryn wrote me. All is in readiness for you. I beg that you will come with me, I will conduct you to your apartment. Mr. Van Ryn will arrive this afternoon. He directed that you were to have anything you wished. Anything,' he added with an impressive emphasis which suggested that if they expressed a preference for the British crown jewels or an African lion, it would not daunt him.
    Miranda was dazed. She and Ephraim both made a quick reflexive gesture as two of the bellboys seized the precious baskets. 'I'il carry 'em!' cried Ephraim, but they were already out of sight. Miranda and her father found themselves herded up a tremendous staircase, down a brightly lit corridor, and into a large parlor crammed with rosewood furniture. 'Your bedchamber to the right,' said the clerk to Ephraim, throwing open a door with a flourish, 'and the young lady's in there.'
    'You mean we're supposed to use these three rooms just for us?' said Ephraim in bewilderment. 'Seems like a sinful waste.'
    The clerk looked pained. 'Mr. Van Ryn was very anxious that you should be comfortable, sir. I trust that you will be.'
    'I guess so,' Ephraim answered. 'Much obliged to you, young man.'
    When the door finally closed behind the clerk and bellboys, Ephraim sat down heavily on the settee. 'This Mr. Van Ryn must be very rich and very wasteful. What do people want with all this flummery anyway?' He stared resentfully at the blue plush curtains, the five carved chairs, the desk, the center table, the flowered rug, then through the opened doors at the four-posted beds, dressing-tables, black walnut armoires, and footstools. 'All any sensible body needs is a table, a chair, and a bed.'
    His daughter did not answer; she stood wide-eyed in the middle of the room. Through the open windows came the steady clatter of the traffic. She took the bonnet off and flung it into a chair, she walked to the windows and looked out for a minute while her hand caressed the lush blue curtain fringes. She turned and examined the glass and gilt knobs that held the tie-backs. She leaned over and pressed her finger into the pile of the festooned red-and-gray carpet. When she straightened her eyes were dreamy.
    'I've read about it, but I didn't know people lived like this, really,' she said half to herself. 'I think it's wonderful.'
    Ephraim made an impatient sound and stood up. 'Miranda, you're a very light-minded female. You've always given too much weight to material things. I doubt very much that this excursion into Babylon is good for you. I've a mind to tell Mr. Van Ryn ye cannot go.'
    'Oh, you couldn't do that, Pa!' she cried. 'You've given your word.'
    Ephraim's mouth tightened and he turned away. He had never in his life broken his word and he would not do so now, but he was uneasy. He had little sympathy