They consisted almost entirely of men, and of the men there were many types, and many ages.

Actors and artists, musicians and authors were indiscriminately mingled; it was the strangest conglomeration of diverse interests.

But one interest, so it seemed to Michael, bound them all together; they were all doing in their different lives the things they most delighted in doing.

There was the key that unlocked all the locks--namely, the enjoyment that inspired their work.

The freemasonry of art and the freemasonry of the eager mind that looks out without verdict, but with only expectation and delight in experiment, passed like an open secret among them, secret because none spoke of it, open because it was so transparently obvious.