A mechanic of some sort himself when he was young; then he took to writing for the Socialistic Press. I came across him at Brixton.”

They were talking about the Emersons.

“How wonderfully people rise in these days!” sighed Miss Bartlett, fingering a model of the leaning Tower of Pisa.

“Generally,” replied Mr. Eager, “one has only sympathy for their success. The desire for education and for social advance — in these things there is something not wholly vile. There are some working men whom one would be very willing to see out here in Florence — little as they would make of it.”

“Is he a journalist now?” Miss Bartlett asked, “He is not; he made an advantageous marriage.”