"
She breathed a sigh that ended in rippling laughter.
"You'll have to say yes again."
But at that she changed the subject, and we talked about her work at
Barnard until we left the train at Fourteenth Street, where we met the
flood tide of Christmas surging into the shops and piling up against gaily
decked show windows.
Street hawkers jingled toy harnesses, shouted the prices of bright truck
for tree ornaments, and pushed through the crowd, offering holly and
mistletoe. Circles formed around men exhibiting mechanical turtles or
boxing monkeys. From a furry sledge above a shop door, Santa Claus bowed
and gesticulated, shaking the lines above his prancing reindeer. I had
never seen such a spectacle.
"What a jam!" cried Helen, her cheeks flooded with colour. "Come, let's
hurry!"
Indeed, as we threaded our way in and out among the throng, her beauty
made an instant impression.
"There she goes!"
"Where? Where? I don't see her."
"There! The tall one, with the veil--walking with that jay!"
Not only did I hear such comments; I felt them. Yet even here there were
many who did not notice; and again I sensed that odd displeasure that
people could pass without seeing my darling.
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