"Am I interrupting your work, Mr. Smith? I mean, I know I am, but——"
"Please don't go away."
"Thank you.... I have noticed what agreeable manners you Americans have in novels.[92] Naturally you are even more kindly and polite in real life."
"Have you met many Americans?"
"No, only you. In the beginning I did not feel interested in Americans."
"Why?"
"The young men all seemed to resemble one another," she said frankly, "like Chinese. But now that I really know an American I am intensely interested."
"You notice no Mongolian monotony in me?" he inquired gravely.
"Oh, no——" She coloured; then discovering that he was laughing, she laughed, too, rather faintly.
"That was a joke, wasn't it?" she said.