pretty nurse came out, too, and sat down in a chair not far away. She
probably regretted her lost opportunity to be flirted with.

"I have so little company--it is a great relief to see somebody from
the world," she said. "If you can be agreeable, I wish you would."

The idea that she had come out to see me was so agreeable that I
remained speechless until she said: "Do tell me what people are doing
in New York."

So I seated myself on the steps and talked about the portion of the
world inhabited by me, while she sat sewing in the dull light that
straggled out from the parlor windows.

She had a certain coquetry of her own, using the usual methods with an
individuality that was certainly fetching. For instance, when she lost
her needle--and, another time, when we both, on hands and knees,
hunted for her thimble.

However, directions for these pastimes may be found in contemporary
classics.

I was as entertaining as I could be--perhaps not quite as entertaining
as a young man usually thinks he is. However, we got on very well
together until I asked her tenderly who the harbor-master might be,
whom they all discussed so mysteriously.

"I do not care to speak about it," she said, with a primness of which
I had not suspected her capable.