TWO DIANAS IN 'ALASKA 



We found that we had a few days' necessary resi- 

 dence to put in, and this suited us admirably, as the 

 Lily could not be expected to arrive for a week at 

 the earliest. 



We thought of the Episcopalian padre to do the 

 splicing business, our friend of the journey North on 

 board the Nome City, and Ralph looked him up. 

 The Episcopalians were very glad to see us, and 

 most kindly asked us all to supper. I am sure she 

 did not mean it, but really madam, she of the one- 

 pin method of dressing herself, had a most compre- 

 hensive way of keeping the guests off the food. 



"Did this duck die of pneumonia, Lee?" she in- 

 quired of the Chinaman, "or is it the one I said you 

 were to kill because its leg was broken?" 



Then, later, toying thoughtfully with the milk- 

 pudding, she murmured, a propos of nothing in par- 

 ticular, " Our cow is threatened with tuberculosis. 

 Such a grief to us. She is a real friend of the 

 family." 



Ralph said, when we got home, that he was starv- 

 ing. But when once the door of an American coffee- 

 room is closed nothing will open it again until the 

 scheduled meal hour. 



The days passed too quickly, invitations to all sorts 

 of festivities rained in. Our kindly American cousins 

 welcomed us royally. 



Seattle society and it was most hospitable to us 

 was all agog with a story of " Vanity Fair " 

 variety, and as we knew all the actors in the little 

 drama we took the same furious interest as the rest of 



