It hummed in the chief centres.

And through it all and beyond it all shone opulence, opulence gilded and gleaming and dazzling in its glitter: in the big hotels; in the rich shops; in the gaudy theatres; along the fine avenues: a display of wealth to make the eyes ache; an exhibition of riches never seen before.

It did Keith good at first just to stand in the street and watch the pageant as it passed like a gilded panorama.

Of the inner New York he did not yet know: the New York of luxurious homes; of culture and of art; of refinement and elegance.

The New York that has grown up since, with its vast wealth, its brazen glitter, its tides that roll up riches as the sea rolls up the sand, was not yet.