There is a large round table in the northeast corner of Andre’s at which six can sit.  To this table Grainger and Mary Adrian made their way.  Kappelman and Reeves were already there.  And Miss Tooker, who designed the May cover for the Ladies’ Notathome Magazine.  And Mrs. Pothunter, who never drank anything but black and white highballs, being in mourning for her husband, who—­oh, I’ve forgotten what he did—­died, like as not.

Spaghetti-weary reader, wouldst take one penny-in-the-slot peep into the fair land of Bohemia?  Then look; and when you think you have seen it you have not.  And it is neither thimbleriggery nor astigmatism.

The walls of the Cafe Andre were covered with original sketches by the artists who furnished much of the color and sound of the place.  Fair woman furnished the theme for the bulk of the drawings.  When you say “sirens and siphons” you come near to estimating the alliterative atmosphere of Andre’s.

First, I want you to meet my friend, Miss Adrian.  Miss Tooker and Mrs. Pothunter you already know.  While she tucks in the fingers of her elbow gloves you shall have her daguerreotype.  So faint and uncertain shall the portrait be: 

Age, somewhere between twenty-seven and highneck evening dresses.  Camaraderie in large bunches—­whatever the fearful word may mean.  Habitat—­anywhere from Seattle to Terra del Fuego.  Temperament uncharted—­she let Reeves squeeze her hand after he recited one of his poems; but she counted the change after sending him out with a dollar to buy some pickled pig’s feet.  Deportment 75 out of a possible 100.  Morals 100.

Mary was one of the princesses of Bohemia.  In the first place, it was a royal and a daring thing to have been named Mary.  There are twenty Fifines and Heloises to one Mary in the Country of Elusion.

Now her gloves are tucked in.  Miss Tooker has assumed a June poster pose; Mrs. Pothunter has bitten her lips to make the red show; Reeves has several times felt his coat to make sure that his latest poem is in the pocket. (It had been neatly typewritten; but he has copied it on the backs of letters with a pencil.) Kappelman is underhandedly watching the clock.  It is ten minutes to nine.  When the hour comes it is to remind him of a story.  Synopsis:  A French girl says to her suitor:  “Did you ask my father for my hand at nine o’clock this morning, as you said you would?” “I did not,” he. replies.  “At nine o’clock I was fighting a duel with swords in the Bois de Boulogne.”  “Coward!” she hisses.

The dinner was ordered.  You know how the Bohemian feast of reason keeps up with the courses.  Humor with the oysters; wit with the soup; repartee with the entree; brag with the roast; knocks for Whistler and Kipling with the salad; songs with the coffee; the slapsticks with the cordials.