Europe, or in all the latitude of conduct she was prepared to permit
herself.


V

One Sunday morning Eden was crossing the Square with a spruce young man
in a white flannel suit and a panama hat. They had been breakfasting at
the Brevoort and he was coaxing her to let him come up to her rooms and
sing for an hour.

"No, I've got to write letters. You must run along now. I see a friend of
mine over there, and I want to ask him about something before I go up."

"That fellow with the dog? Where did you pick him up?" the young man
glanced toward the seat under a sycamore where Hedger was reading the
morning paper.

"Oh, he's an old friend from the West," said Eden easily. "I won't
introduce you, because he doesn't like people. He's a recluse. Good-bye.
I can't be sure about Tuesday. I'll go with you if I have time after my
lesson." She nodded, left him, and went over to the seat littered with
newspapers. The young man went up the Avenue without looking back.

"Well, what are you going to do today? Shampoo this animal all morning?"
Eden enquired teasingly.

Hedger made room for her on the seat. "No, at twelve o'clock I'm going
out to Coney Island. One of my models is going up in a balloon this
afternoon. I've often promised to go and see her, and now I'm going."