"Oh, see here, now!" Anthony blushed in a manner to excite the
envy of any woman. "I don't like 'em. I'd rather play football."

"That explains something. When the time comes you will cease
wasting your life and--"

"I'm NOT wasting my life," the young man denied hotly. "I'm having
a great time; simply immense."

"I remember reading an article once by a man who attacked American
colleges with bitter personal feeling, on the ground that they
fostered exactly the attitude toward life which you have just
expressed."

Anthony looked sober. "That was my father," he said.

"Really! How stupid of me to forget the name. But I don't agree
with him," she continued, gently. "You merely lack stimulus. If
you should meet the right woman--" Then, seeing the amusement in
his face; "Believe me, I know what I am talking about. I know what
a woman can do. Your life has been too easy and placid. You need
some disturbing element to make it ferment."

"But I don't want to ferment."

"Why don't you stay in Panama and go to work?"

"Work? Hideous word! For one thing, I haven't time. I must get
back--"