human
So you think Toronto is rather a fair matron after all, Mrs. Dale, and that your New York robes blend harmoniously with the other effects at the Queens?
gpt
I reckon I do, Mrs. Gower; you did not say a word too much in her praise; I remember saying to Henry before we started, my last season's gowns would do.
human
And you like Toronto also, Mr. Dale,
gpt
Yes, better than any other Canadian town I have visited; it is very simply laid out, one couldn't lose oneself if one tried.
human
It is laid out like a what do you call it, like a chess-board,
gpt
Yes, not unlike, continued Dale,
human
We all notice how quiet our streets are at night, and after your London and New York City, we must seem to you as if we had taken a sedative, said Mrs. Gower, taking his arm to the dining-room;
gpt
She was too fatigued to come, she foolishly overtaxed her strength, taking my boy to the Industrial Home, at Mimico, I think she said.
human
That's correct, it's a pet scheme of Mayor Howland's, and a worthy one too.
gpt
Yes, so she said; they also visited your Normal School, and talked of the Cyclorama of Sedan.
human
Indeed! they have overtaxed the brain and memory, I fear; what does Garfield say to it all?
gpt
Chatters like a magpie over the superior glories of New York, but is honestly pleased after all.
human
I expect your little son is English only in name.
gpt
Yes, and in his love for a good dinner,
human
Well, from all we Canadians hear, there is every reason he should, an English dinner is enough 'to tempt even ghosts to pass the Styx for more substantial feasts,'
gpt
Mrs. Gower is always up to the latest in remembering the tastes of her guests,
human
That she is, he said, complacently;
gpt
Goodness knows what Henry would do if our bank stopped payment, or our Pittsburg foundries shut down; for I know no more about cooking than Jay Gould's baby,
human
He, I expect, makes himself heard on the feeding bottle,
gpt
But you are unusually candid as to your short-comings, Mrs. Dale,
human
Because I can afford to be; were I poor, I reckon I should pawn off my mamma's tea-cakes on my young man as my own, as men in love believe anything--they are as dull as Broadway without millinery.
gpt
By the way, Mrs. Dale, talking of millinery, where are your bonnets going to, they are three stories and a mansard at present?
human
Oh, only a cupola, Mr. Buckingham, on which birds will perch.
gpt
How so; I was under the impression the bird hunt is a thing of the past?
human
No, indeed! not while there are men in the field.
gpt
How so; I do not follow you?
human
Stupid, you are born huntsmen, our bonnets are a perch for a decoy, and, she added, looking at him archly,
gpt
You would not accomplish it, the strength of will of one of the party would keep the whole uppermost. I appeal to Mr. Smyth.
human
I am with you, Mrs. Gower; Tremaine must go under, even though he is an Irishman.
gpt
Irish questions always do get muddled, eh, Smyth?
human
That they do, Dale. Which is it, Mrs. Gower, the Coercion Bill or Home Rule?
gpt
Neither, she said, laughingly,
human
Oh, that's it! Tremaine knows the indomitable will of one of them would cause more dust to be kicked up than one sees on a March day on Yonge Street.
gpt
Out-voted, Captain Tremaine, we weep 'salt tears' over your becoming uniform; but seriously speaking, though a High Court of Arbitration would be a grand spectacle, it will be only after years of evolution, and when, as Mr. Blake, the chairman said, 'the voice of the private soldier, instead of the general officer, is heard.'
human
If I should ever have the ill-fortune to be drafted, said Smyth, laughingly,
gpt
I should fight to the death against my enrolment; an hospital nurse, like the Quaker-love, would suit me better; such rations as a man gets on the field.
human
I know for a fact, said Dale;
gpt
Indeed! I was not aware,
human
By the way, Smyth, said Tremaine,
gpt
I have, and he was able for them every time.
human
Are you speaking of the journalist who went to jail in the interests of the _Globe_?
gpt
Yes.
human
His defence was capital, I thought, said Dale,
gpt
I also read his reply with pleasure, said Mrs. Gower,
human
Talmage and Silcox have been lauding the power of the press to the skies, said Smyth;
gpt
Have you heard how the Grand is going to cater to our dramatic taste this coming season, Mr. Buckingham?
human
Just a whisper, Mrs. Gower, as to Emma Juch, Langtry and Siddons.
gpt
Yes; so far so good. Have you heard that the rail makes no special rates for travelling companies?
human
I have; so you may expect that those who will pay the high toll, will be those of the highest standard.
gpt
Then I suppose (though it seems selfish) we should be content with the rail rates as they are.
human
You will enjoy the debates, Dale, said Smyth,
gpt
But I am not sure that it is our party, Smyth; I scarcely know how I should vote here; if Meredith is right, why doesn't he prove to Ontario that Mowat has held the reins too long?
human
So he will before next election,
gpt
Don't be too sure, Mr. Smyth, eloquent though he be, said his hostess;
human
Do you meditate a long stay, Buckingham, in this the white-washed city of the Dominion?
gpt
Yes, off and on all winter; you know I intend to purchase some of your mineral lands, since you allow them to lie undeveloped,
human
You see, Capt. Tremaine, said Mrs. Gower, merrily,
gpt
Don't despair, Tremaine, Commercial Union is looming up,
human
Treason! treason! laughed Tremaine,
gpt
Hear, hear,
human
Oh, I don't know, laughed Mrs. Gower,
gpt
We can wait, said Buckingham, quietly,
human
Did you say you are going to Maine, Mr. Buckingham, we cannot do without you now,
gpt
Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair, I do not go; but even if so, you would, I fear, miss me less than your latest fad in the pet quadruped.
human
How severe you are, Mr. Buckingham. Are all New York men so, Mrs. Dale?
gpt
It's annexation, Mrs. St. Clair,
human
Annexation! is Mr. Buckingham going to be married?
gpt
I believe so.