Altogether unsuspected by himself, Dennis, with his intent, intelligent countenance, and the contrasting vivacity of his rich, Irish accent, had awakened an interest in the mind of his companion which months of adroit approach could not have achieved.
His entire absorption in the story, his delightful and unconscious elimination of self, supplied this tired woman with elements of mental refreshment and genuine enjoyment which circumstances had compelled her to decide no longer existed.
Encouraged, therefore, by this unmistakable interest and the amiable attitude of attention which Dennis, with characteristic ingenuousness, accepted as a tribute to the narrative, he exclaimed:
"An' isn't it great, now? Did you ever hear such a tale as that?"
"An' wasn't that Raikes a div--a tight one, I mean?"
"He was, indeed," assented the lady, as she reviewed this sordid character and the incidents surrounding him, and contrasted the tumult of phrase and situation with her genial Addison and her placid Irving.
"An' would you like to hear the rest?" asked Dennis, as he produced the remaining bosom of Series B.
"Yes," replied the lady, "I believe I would. But just a moment before you begin," and regarding this oblivious young man with an expression in which a degree of speculation still lingered to tantalize its suggestion of frank indorsement, she hazarded:
Wondering at the acuteness of this observation, Dennis responded by according to her the exact time of his brief residence.
"Ah!" exclaimed the lady, "I thought so."
"May I ask," inquired Dennis, wondering if, like the visitor from the bucolic district, he supplied unconscious data in his appearance for classification, "may I ask how you are able to tell that I'm here for a short time only?"
"Well," returned his companion with a degree of hesitation exquisitely refined as it shadowed through her fine countenance, and which she presently conquered as she replied to his question with that shade of frankness which, in the well-bred, can never be mistaken for anything else: "It requires about a year's residence in this bedlam to replace the genuine with the artificial; I see no evidence of such an unhappy transformation in you."
"Oh, I see," responded Dennis. "An' you never will, either."