It was in keeping with the coterie's spiritual make-up that they should know a restaurant in the vieux carré, which "that pewblic" knew not, and whose best merits were not music and fresco¹, but serenity², hospitality, and cuisine---a haven³ not yet "Ammericanize'."  
Where it was they never told a philistine⁴. The elect they informed under the voice, as one might betray a bird's nest. It was but a step from the crumbling⁵ Hotel St. Louis, and but another or so from the spires⁶ of St. Louis Cathedral.
 
In it, at a round table, the joy-riders had passed the evening of their holiday. As the cathedral clock struck nine they rose to part. At the board Chester had sat next the same joy-mate allowed him all day in the car. But with how reduced a share of her attention! Half of his own he had had to give, at his other elbow, to her aunt Yvonne; half of Aline's had gone to Dubroca. The other half into half of his was but half a half and that had to be halved⁷ by a quarter coming from the two nearest across the table, one of whom was Mlle. Corinne, whose queries⁸ always required thought.
 
"Mr. Chezter," she said, when the purchase of an evening paper had made the great over-seas strife⁹ the general theme, "can you egsplain me why they don' stop that war, when 'tis calculate' to projuce so much hard feeling?"
 
Explaining as best he could without previous research, Chester had turned again to Mlle. Yvonne to let her finish telling--inspire'd by an incoming course of the menu--of those happy childhood days when she and her sister and the unfortunate gentleman from whom they had bought Aline's manuscript went crayfishing in Elysian Fields street canal, always taking the dolls along, "so not to leave them lonesome"; how the dolls had visibly enjoyed the capture of each crayfish; and how she and Corinne and the dolls would delight in the same sport to-day, but, alas¹⁰! "that can-al was fil' op! and tha'z another thing calculate' to projuce hard feeling."
 
Through such riddles¹¹ and reminiscences and his replies thereto persistently¹² ran Chester's uneasy question to himself: Why had Aline told him that story of unnamable trouble which had goaded<............