Then he
greeted Maurice Levy, who was next to Marjorie: "'M glad to see y'!"
Dumfounded, Marjorie turned aside, and stood near, observing Penrod with
gravity. It was the first great surprise of her life. Customarily,
she had seemed to place his character somewhere between that of the
professional rioter and that of the orang-outang; nevertheless, her
manner at times just hinted a consciousness that this Caliban was her
property. Wherefore, she stared at him incredulously as his head bobbed
up and down, in the dancing-school bow, greeting his guests. Then she
heard an adult voice, near her, exclaim:
"What an exquisite child!"
Mariorie galanced up--a little consciously, though she was used to
it--naturally curious to ascertain who was speaking of her. It was Sam
Williams' mother addressing Mrs. Bassett, both being present to help
Mrs. Schofield make the festivities festive.
"Exquisite!"
Here was a second heavy surprise for Marjorie: they were not looking
at her. They were looking with beaming approval at a girl she had never
seen; a dark and modish stranger of singularly composed and yet modest
aspect. Her downcast eyes, becoming in one thus entering a crowded room,
were all that produced the effect of modesty, counteracting something
about her which might have seemed too assured. She was very slender,
very dainty, and her apparel was disheartening to the other girls; it
was of a knowing picturesqueness wholly unfamiliar to them.
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