Miss T. 'Really you are provoking; you understand perfectly as well
as I do.'

Miss E. 'I am still in the dark. What is the curriculum of a
cultivated lady?'

Mrs. P. 'I much doubt if Miss Toller is acquainted with the
ordinary facts of geography, even those which are familiar to common
seamen in the Navy. She probably could not tell us the situation of
the Straits of Panama.'

Mrs. Poulter had been reading something in the newspaper the day
before about the Panama Canal.

Miss E. 'Straits of Panama!' but she checked herself when she saw
that not a muscle moved on anybody's face. 'Now, my dear Mrs.
Poulter, I assure you I have friends who dine in the best society,
and I'll be bound they never heard of the Straits of Panama.'

Mrs. P. 'The society in which _I_ was accustomed to mix, Miss
Everard, would have excluded a person who was so grossly ignorant.'

Miss T. 'The possession of scientific truth, in addition to
conferring social advantages, adds so much to our happiness.'

Miss E. 'This also I am inclined to dispute. Do you really feel
happier, Mrs. Poulter, because you can tell us what continents are
divided by the Straits of Panama?'

Mrs. M. 'I'll lay a wager Miss Toller knows as much as we do, but