rapidity. The house being full, they had many opportunities for finding the isolation which exists in crowds, and took advantage of it. Mr. Palmer, however, with a strong sense of paternal duty, thought it well not to let the matter go too far without satisfying himself that he was justified in letting it go to all lengths. With this in his mind he went to his wife's rooms on Sunday morning to have a quiet talk, as was his custom.
' Pleased with your party?' he asked amiably.
' Lewis, I'm just sick with satisfaction,' she said. ' Long Island, I tell you, is made, and Newport will crumble into the sea. But what am I to do next year? Why, I believe that if at this moment I built a house on Sandy Hook, I could make it fashionable.'
' That would be very convenient,' said he. ' We could flag the liners and save half a day. I'm glad you are satisfied. Now, what do you get by it all?'
' Same as what you get when you've made a million dollars,' said Mrs. Palmer with some perspicacity. ' You don't want them. You don't know you've got them. But you like getting them.'
His bright gray eyes gleamed suddenly, and he looked at her approvingly.
' I guess that's true,' he said. ' I guess you've hit the nail on the head, as you do every time. We've got to get, you and I; and when we've got, we've got to get again. It's the getting we go for.'
His eyes wandered round the room a moment, and he went to a cabinet of bric-à-brac that stood between the windows.
' Where did you get that Tanagra figure from?' he asked.' It's a forgery.' And he took it up and threw it into the grate, where it smashed to atoms.
' Well, I suppose you know,' said Mrs. Palmer calmly. ' Bilton sold it me.'
