G. A. Birmingham

“ Cis is the mistress of arts and wiles. She sports with the hearts of men. Miss Foster vacillated between the two ideals, and I have no doubt—it was springtime then—wore a pink cotton frock, ironed stiffly, wonderfully frilled.
Beside Cis Foster was another name in another writing, John Emmanuel Williams. He used to come there on Sunday evenings when Mrs. Foster, growing oldish now and a little worn, stayed at home; when Mr. Foster smoked his pipe with a secure feeling that one churchgoing of a Sunday was enough for any man; when the boys, young scamps, were birds'-nesting in the woods. ”

“ Between twenty and thirty clergymen, old and young, were gathered in the church and listened to an exhortation delivered by an elderly dignitary, who spoke, not from the regular pulpit, but from the lectern. I felt myself an intruder, an eavesdropper, a spy upon the private devotions of worthy men. ”

“ The changed spelling of the name told me something about her. To the Miss Foster of that date the younger brothers were boisterous schoolboys, troublesome creatures with tops and marbles and rough games. She was Sissy no more, but Cis, which is a name derived from Cecilia, and full of romantic possibilities. Cecilia, at full length, is a stately maiden, aloof a little from common things, to be wooed gloriously by one in the guise of a prince. Cis smacks more of the world, of gay laughter, of daring attractiveness. ”