We laughed together to the memory of _Actinia_.

"I am a goot organism. T'e bat organisms vish to scratch me; but t'ey are
not so fery bat. In time ve may teach t'em gootness."

"If Darmstetter doesn't think you a perfect organism, he must be hard to
satisfy. He's a peculiar organism himself. Has he true loves among sand
stars or jelly fish, or does he confine his affections to sea anemones?"

"Prof. Darmstetter is a great biologist. It's a shame he has to teach.
Don't you think such a man should be free to devote himself to original
work? He might in England, you know, if he were a fellow of a University.
But we're proud of him at Barnard; and the laboratory--oh, it's the most
fascinating place!"

We came slowly down the Boulevard, looking out at the sweep of the Hudson,
while she talked of her studies and her college mates, trying, I thought,
to keep me from other topics.

I scarcely noticed her words; her voice was in my ears, fresh and musical.
The new grace of her shining head and wondrous, swaying figure, the beauty
and spirit of her carriage, filled my consciousness. A schooner with a
deck load of wood drifted with the tide, her sails flapping; I saw her in
a blur. When I turned from the sheen of the river, the bicyclists whizzing
past left streaks of light. A man cutting brush in a vacant lot leaned on
his axe to look after us. The sudden stopping of his "chop, chop"--he too
was staring at the vision of beauty before his eyes--brought me out of my
revery.

"Nelly," I said, "your father will expect a letter from me. What shall I