without knowing why. Geary, however, drew his line at gambling; he never
talked against it or tried to influence Vandover, but he never could be
induced to play "for keeps" himself.

One very warm Sunday afternoon in the first days of April, when the last
snows were melting, Vandover and Geary were in their room, sitting at
opposite ends of their window-seat, Geary translating his Monday's
"Horace" by the help of a Bonn's translation, Vandover making a pen and
ink drawing for the next _Lampoon_. A couple of young women passed down
the walk, going across the Yard toward the Square. They were cheaply and
showily dressed. One of them wore a mannish shirtwaist, with a high
collar and scarf. The other had taken off her gloves and was swinging a
bright red cape in one of her bare hands. As the couple passed they
stared calmly at the two young fellows in the window; Vandover lowered
his eyes over his work, blushing, he could not tell why. Geary stared
back at them, following them with his eyes until they had gone by.

All at once he began laughing and pounding on the window.

"Oh, for goodness sake, quit!" exclaimed Vandover in great alarm,
twisting off the window-seat and shrinking back out of sight into the
room. "Quit, Charlie; you don't want to insult a girl that way." Geary
looked at him over his shoulder in some surprise, and was about to
answer when he turned to the window again and exclaimed, grinning and
waving his hand:

"Oh, just come here, Skinny; get on to this, will you? Ah, come here and
look, you old chump! Do you think they're nice girls? Just take a _look_
at them." Vandover peered timidly around Geary's head and saw that the
two girls were looking back and laughing, and that the one with the red