certain class has been evolved whose drawing-room is the floor of the
leading theatres. Society consists for them chiefly in being present
often at theatrical performances in sumptuous dress, not merely to
witness the play, but to be participants in a social function which
enhances their self-esteem. To be looked at and to look on these
occasions takes the place with them of balls and dinner parties. They
are not theatregoers in the proper sense, but social aspirants, and the
boxes and stalls are for them an arena in which for a price they can
show themselves in their finery and attractions, for lack of other
opportunities.

Our theatres are now in the full blaze of this harmless appropriation
for quasi-ballroom uses. At the time when Selma was a New York bride the
movement was in its infancy. The people who went to the theatre for
spectacular purposes no less than to see the actors on the stage were
comparatively few in number. Still the device was practised, and from
the very fact that it was not freely employed, was apt to dazzle the
eyes of the uninitiated public more unreservedly than to-day. The sight
of Mrs. Williams in a box, in the glory of her becoming frock and her
violets, caused even so stern a patriot and admirer of simplicity as
Selma to seize her husband's arm and whisper:

"Look." What is more she caught herself a moment later blushing with
satisfaction on account of the friendly bow which was bestowed on her.

Wilbur Littleton's ambitions were so definite and congenial that the
sight of his neighbors' splendor neither offended nor irritated him. He
did not feel obliged to pass judgment on them while deriving amusement
from their display, nor did he experience any qualms of regret that he
was not able to imitate them. He regarded Flossy and her husband with