We had become well acquainted,
and--well, lazy I guess is the best word for it. So we decided that it was
too much trouble to dress for meals, and dropped into the habit of coming
in just as we chanced to be, from lounging in the hammock, or fishing off
the pier, or bicycle riding down the beach. Our manners, too, had become
about as careless as our dress; we were there for a rest, a good time, and
these little things didn't matter, we said.
"One day there was a new arrival. Mrs. Blinn, a young widow, with her
little son, Robert, as sturdy, bright-faced a lad of twelve as one often
sees. The first time he came into the dining-room, erect, manly, with his
tie and collar and dress in perfect order, escorting his mother as if she
had been a princess, and standing till not only she, but every lady at the
table was seated, we all felt that a breath of new air had come among us,
and every one there, I think, straightened up a little. However we looked
at one another and nodded our heads, as much as to say, 'He won't keep this
up long.' We were strangers, and in the familiarity of every-day life we
did not doubt that it would soon wear away.
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