It was too early to go to Europe; and too late to go to Bermuda.

It was too warm to go south, and yet still too cold to go north.

In fact, one was almost compelled to stay at home--which was dreadful.
As a result Mrs.Rasselyer-Brown and her three hundred friends moved backwards and forwards on Plutoria Avenue, seeking novelty in vain.
They washed in waves of silk from tango teas to bridge afternoons.

They poured in liquid avalanches of colour into crowded receptions, and they sat in glittering rows and listened to lectures on the enfranchisement of the female sex.

But for the moment all was weariness.
Now it happened, whether by accident or design, that just at this moment of general _ennui_ Mrs.Rasselyer-Brown and her three hundred friends first heard of the presence in the city of Mr.Yahi-Bahi, the celebrated Oriental mystic.