Women and girls were returning
from the post-office, many of them with letters in their hands.
Some of these were so impatient to know their contents that they
were straining their eyes to read them in the sickly light that fell
from a sparse row of electric lamps. I watched their faces.
In one case it was quite evident that the letter was a love-message,
and that the girl who was reading it was tremendously happy. In
another I wondered whether the missive had come from a son. It
was for Miss Tevkin's return that I was watching. But the
dinner-gong sounded before she made her appearance
CHAPTER III DINNER at the Rigi Kulm on a Saturday evening
was not merely a meal. It was, in addition, or chiefly, a great
social function and a gown contest
The band was playing. As each matron or girl made her
appearance in the vast dining-room the female boarders already
seated would look her over with feverish interest, comparing her
gown and diamonds with their own. It was as though it were
especially for this parade of dresses and finery that the band was
playing.
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