"It's like a game," he said. "We disagree on everything, especially
Mexico. If you ever tried to spell those Mexican names--"

"Why did you think I was engaged?" she insisted.

Now, in K.'s walk of life--that walk of life where there are no toothpicks,
and no one would have believed that twenty-one meals could have been
secured for five dollars with a ticket punch thrown in--young girls did not
receive the attention of one young man to the exclusion of others unless
they were engaged. But he could hardly say that.

"Oh, I don't know. Those things get in the air. I am quite certain, for
instance, that Reginald suspects it."

"It's Johnny Rosenfeld," said Sidney, with decision. "It's horrible, the
way things get about. Because Joe sent me a box of roses--As a matter of
fact, I'm not engaged, or going to be, Mr. Le Moyne. I'm going into a
hospital to be a nurse."

Le Moyne said nothing. For just a moment he closed his eyes. A man is in
a rather a bad way when, every time he closes his eyes, he sees the same
thing, especially if it is rather terrible. When it gets to a point where
he lies awake at night and reads, for fear of closing them--

"You're too young, aren't you?"

"Dr. Ed--one of the Wilsons across the Street--is going to help me about
that. His brother Max is a big surgeon there. I expect you've heard of
him. We're very proud of him in the Street."