fantastically vivid, that it seems to add new treasures to the old.
*****
Sparkling as is the writing of Dr. Brandes, his conversation is no less so. Indeed, a more entertaining companion can hardly be imagined. He seems to know everything, to have seen everything and in his travels all over Europe he has met most of the great ones of the earth. He talks freely about every subject, casts new light over the most trivial matter, and can, in a few words, give a sketch of this or that famous person.
Stuart Mill, Renan, Ibsen, Max Klinger, Tolstoy, Bismarck; he will pass in review all such powerful influences of our century. The last name brings him to talk of his long stay in Berlin, and of the old Emperor and his Court, and suddenly he says:
"I have never felt myself so completely left out in the cold as when at a great Court ball at Potsdam. I was the only one of eleven hundred guests who had no decoration." With a twinkle in his eye he adds: "Unless it was when at a big dinner in Switzerland I found myself the only one who was not condemned to death—all the others being Russian and Polish exiles."
Being an excellent causeur it is no wonder that Dr. Brandes has always been a great favourite with women. His mind fascinates them, and they never feel overwhelmed with his knowledge, because he always cares most to try and make them talk about themselves, and he is certainly an artist at that.
That dreadful female monster—if it is proper to call her female—who, two minutes after being introduced, tells one that she wears "divided skirts" and starts her day with a brandy-and-soda, has no interest for Dr. Brandes. He combines with his very advanced views in other directions the old-fashioned idea that womanhood still remains the greatest fascination of woman.
I don't
