"If I had ever dreamed that you would come, Mr. Mason, I should have
sent you an invitation myself," said Josephine, whose delight, as I
perceived, was tinged with jealousy.
"I planned it as a delirious surprise," interjected Mrs. Sloane. "I
knew you would be only too glad to have him if there was room. I dare
say you thought I was a little mysterious over the telephone last
night, Mr. Bangs," she added with a blithe twist of her neck in Sam's
direction.
"I am a thorough believer in the efficacy of manly sports on
character," I heard Mr. Mason remark to my wife. "They cannot be too
much encouraged by us all."
"It is very kind of you to say so," said Josephine, with a radiance
which told me plainly that her qualms concerning the whole proceeding
as an educational factor were at least temporarily dispelled. "I shall
tell little Fred that you were with us. It will gratify him very much
to know that you saw the game."
"It must be a proud day for you as a father and a college man," he
continued, with a kindly smile in my direction.
"Really, sir, I am not altogether certain yet," I answered, a trifle
doggedly. "My judgment is in a state of suspension."
He obviously mistook my philosophic utterance for fears concerning the
outcome of the game, inasmuch as he presently sought to soothe me by a
speech to the effect that a game well lost was a victory in ethics,
which prompted me to remark, under my breath:
"Provided it doesn't cost a leg or a rib or two.
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