An Open-eyed Conspiracy Author:William Dean Howells Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. The next afternoon, while we were sitting in the park waiting for the Troy band to begin playing, and I was wondering just when they would reach the " Wa... more »shington Post March," which 1 like because I can always be sure of it, my unknown friends came strolling our way. The man looked bewildered and bored, with something of desperation in his troubled eye, and his wife looked tired and disheartened. The young girl, still in white duck, wore the same air of passive injury I had noted in her the night before. Their faces all three lighted up at sight of me; but they faded again at the cold and meagre response I made to their smiles under correction of my wife's fears of them. I own it was base of me ; but I had begun to feel myself that it might be too large a contract to attempt their consolation, and, in fact, after one is fifty scarcely any romance will keep overnight. My wife glanced from them to me, and read mycowardly mind; but she waited till they passed, as they did after an involuntary faltering in front of us, and were keeping on down the path, looking at the benches, which were filled on either hand. She said, " Weren't those your friends ?" " They were the persons of my romance." " No matter. Go after them instantly, and bring them back here, poor things. We can make room for them." I rose. " Isn't this a little too idyllic ? Aren't you rather overdoing it ?" " Don't speak to me, Basil! I never heard of anything so atrocious. Go on your knees to them if they refuse! They can sit here with me, and you and he can stand. Fly ! " I knew she was punishing me for her own reluctance ; but I flew, in that sense of the term, and easily overhauled them in the tangle of people coming and going in the path, and the nurse-maids pushing their perambulators in eit...« less