_By_ ARTHUR JOHNSON
From _Harper’s Magazine_
_Copyright, 1918, by Harper and Brothers._
_Copyright, 1919, by Arthur Johnson._
“Have you ever read any of Marian Haviland Norton?”
I didn’t expect, when I put the question, to fall right into a mine of
information. It was out of my line, moreover, to talk about authors and
books at dinner. But the topic had popped inconsequently into my head,
and there was certainly something about the quiet, sly-looking
Jane-Austenish woman at my left that inspired confidence.
“I’m distinctly curious about her,” I added. “She’s sprung up so soon,
so authoritatively. And she’s so new.”
Up to this point my companion had only listened more quietly, more
slyly, than ever; but her eyes now opened wide, her eyebrows went
whimsically high, and she turned to me with a twinkling smile.
“_New?_ You really think so?”
She gave me no time, either, to correct my statement.
“I didn’t suppose any one still thought that—except, possibly— Have
_you_ ever read Hurrell Oaks?”