When a man tried for the Yale
team he had to play football, no matter who his people were. If
some capable chap were displaced to put in an incapable fellow
like me, he'd be sore, and so would his friends; then I'd have to
lick them. We'd have a fine scrap, because I couldn't stand being
pointed out as a dub. No, I'll go in through the gate and pay my
admission."
"Do you realize that you can't live at the Tivoli?"
"I hadn't thought about that, but I'll live where the other
fellows do."
"No more good dinners, no drives and little parties like this."
"Oh, now, you won't cut me out just because I pull bell-cords and
you pull diplomatic wires? Remember one of our champion pugilists
was once a sailor."
Mrs. Cortlandt laughed with a touch of annoyance.
"It is utterly ridiculous, and I can't believe you are in
earnest."
"I am, though. If I learn to be a good conductor, I'd like to step
up. I'm young. I can't go back to New York; there's plenty of time
for promotion."
"Oh, you'll have every chance," she declared. "But I think a few
weeks in cap and buttons will cure you of this quixotic sentiment.
Meanwhile I must admit it is refreshing." She stared unseeingly at
the street lights for a moment, then broke out as a new thought
occurred to her: "But see here, Kirk, don't the collectors live in
Colon?"
"I don't know," he replied, startled and flattered by her first use
of his given name.
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