At length Mr. King’s eye fell upon the Benson group.  Usually it is unfortunate that a young lady should be observed for the first time at table.  The act of eating is apt to be disenchanting.  It needs considerable infatuation and perhaps true love on the part of a young man to make him see anything agreeable in this performance.  However attractive a girl may be, the man may be sure that he is not in love if his admiration cannot stand this test.  It is saying a great deal for Irene that she did stand this test even under the observation of a stranger, and that she handled her fork, not to put too fine a point upon it, in a manner to make the fastidious Mr. King desirous to see more of her.  I am aware that this is a very unromantic view to take of one of the sweetest subjects in life, and I am free to confess that I should prefer that Mr. King should first have seen Irene leaning on the balustrade of the gallery, with a rose in her hand, gazing out over the sea with “that far-away look in her eyes.”  It would have made it much easier for all of us.  But it is better to tell the truth, and let the girl appear in the heroic attitude of being superior to her circumstances.

Presently Mr. King said to his friend, Mrs. Cortlandt, “Who is that clever-looking, graceful girl over there?”

“That,” said Mrs. Cortlandt, looking intently in the direction indicated —­“why, so it is; that’s just the thing,” and without another word she darted across the room, and Mr. King saw her in animated conversation with the young lady.  Returning with satisfaction expressed in her face, she continued, “Yes, she’ll join our party—­without her mother.  How lucky you saw her!”

“Well!  Is it the Princess of Paphlagonia?”

“Oh, I forgot you were not in Washington last winter.  That’s Miss Benson; just charming; you’ll see.  Family came from Ohio somewhere.  You’ll see what they are—­but Irene!  Yes, you needn’t ask; they’ve got money, made it honestly.  Began at the bottom—­as if they were in training for the presidency, you know—­the mother hasn’t got used to it as much as the father.  You know how it is.  But Irene has had every advantage—­the best schools, masters, foreign travel, everything.  Poor girl!  I’m sorry for her.  Sometimes I wish there wasn’t any such thing as education in this country, except for the educated.  She never shows it; but of course she must see what her relatives are.”

The Hotel Hygeia has this advantage, which is appreciated, at least by the young ladies.  The United States fort is close at hand, with its quota of young officers, who have the leisure in times of peace to prepare for war, domestic or foreign; and there is a naval station across the bay, with vessels that need fashionable inspection.  Considering the acknowledged scarcity of young men at watering-places, it is the duty of a paternal government to place its military and naval stations close to the fashionable resorts, so that the young women who are studying the german [(dance) D.W.] and other branches of the life of the period can have agreeable assistants.  It is the charm of Fortress Monroe that its heroes are kept from ennui by the company assembled there, and that they can be of service to society.