Dolly laughed softly. "You'd think so if you ever attended one of our
public harangues. I've heard persons say I was the whole show. Of
course, I'm joking now, but the women all take up for me and applaud
everything I say, whether it has a point to it or not. _'Whole show!'_
I oughtn't to have said that. When I try to keep from using bookish
expressions I drop plumb into slang; there is no middle ground for
me."

"What sort of subjects does your society take up?" Mostyn inquired,
highly amused.

"Anything the human mind can think up," Dolly answered. "Warren Wilks
reads all the philosophical and scientific magazines, and he fairly
floors us--there I go again; when I talk I either grab the stars or
stick my nose in the mire. I mean that Warren's subjects are generally
abstruse and profound."

"For instance?" Mostyn suggested, still smiling.

"Well, the last one was--and there was a crowd, I tell you, for the
presiding elder had just closed a revival in our church and a good
many stayed over for the debate. We all tried to show off because he
was present, and it was a religious subject. It was this: Is it
possible for human beings in the present day to obey the commandment
of Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself?"

"And which side were you on?" the banker asked.

"I was affirmative, and almost by myself, too," Dolly answered. I