from their Christmas engagements, who would have been much pleased to join
our club; but, considering its ephemeral nature, and seeing it had been
formed only for what we hoped was a passing necessity, we felt that the
introduction of new blood, although essential for the long life of
anything constituted for long life, would only hasten the decay of its
butterfly constitution. So we had kept our meetings entirely to ourselves.

We all arrived about the same time, and found our host and hostess full of
quiet cordiality, to which their homeliness lent an additional charm. The
relation of host and guest is weakened by every addition to a company, and
in a large assembly all but disappears. Indeed, the tendency of the
present age is to blot from the story of every-day life all reminders of
the ordinary human relations, as commonplace and insignificant, and to
mingle all society in one concourse of atoms, in which the only
distinctions shall be those of _rank_; whereas the sole power to keep
social intercourse from growing stale is the recognition of the immortal
and true in all the simple human relations. Then we look upon all men with
reverence, and find ourselves safe and at home in the midst of divine
intents, which may be violated and striven with, but can never be escaped,
because the will of God is the very life and well-being of his creatures.

Mrs. Bloomfield looked very nice in her black silk dress, and collar and
cuffs of old lace, as she presided at the tea-table, and made us all feel
that it was a pleasure to her to serve us.

After repeated apologies, and confessions of failure, our host then read
the following _parable_, as he called it, though I daresay it would be
more correct to call it an _allegory_. But as that word has so many
wearisome associations, I, too, intend, whether right or wrong, to call it
a parable. So, then, it shall be: