don't get on with her."

"Do you know whether she is engaged or not?" demanded the Minor
Poet.

"At the present moment," answered the Woman of the World, "she is
walking out, I believe, with the eldest son of the 'Blue Lion.' But
she is never adverse to a change. If you are really in earnest
about the matter--"

"I was not thinking of myself," said the Minor Poet. "But suppose
some young gentleman of personal attractions equal to those of the
'Blue Lion,' or even not quite equal, possessed of two or three
thousand a year, were to enter the lists, do you think the 'Blue
Lion' would stand much chance?"

"Among the Upper Classes," continued the Minor Poet, "opportunity
for observing female instinct hardly exists. The girl's choice is
confined to lovers able to pay the price demanded, if not by the
beloved herself, by those acting on her behalf. But would a
daughter of the Working Classes ever hesitate, other things being
equal, between Mayfair and Seven Dials?"

"Let me ask you one," chimed in the Girton Girl. "Would a
bricklayer hesitate any longer between a duchess and a scullery-
maid?"

"But duchesses don't fall in love with bricklayers," returned the
Minor Poet. "Now, why not? The stockbroker flirts with the
barmaid--cases have been known; often he marries her. Does the lady