62 ROUND ABOUT CHICAGO 



guardians. Here, if you have the gift of invisi- 

 bility which comes to those who have learned to 

 stand very still and gaze straight ahead, you will 

 not be a damper to the talk even though you 

 be feminine. You may look out over the bound- 

 less level stretch of blue that tells not whether 

 you are on salt seas or fresh, in pirate ship or 

 merchant galleon, and hear many a story, terse, 

 picturesque and sometimes profane, told to the 

 accompaniment of the water swashing at your 

 feet. 



The wise who go on lake excursions carry a 

 box of eatables, for the fare on the steamers is 

 for the most part execrable. Then, too, the chil- 

 dren get importunately hungry long before meal 

 time. Others than children often feel like pangs ; 

 and many a time and oft have our boxes been 

 opened almost as soon as we were loose from our 

 moorings. 



But this time the club is serving supper, and 

 the president has invited us to her table. Won- 

 derful president! I could best describe her by 

 naming her name, for she is known wherever the 

 good and the strong congregate. Keen, alert, 

 happy, well-balanced, with a merry word and smile 

 at the surface, whatever vexations and responsibil- 

 ities may be underneath, she is both a sunbeam 



