"Perhaps I'm a little jealous of him. If _I_ were thrown on
my own resources, I'm afraid I'd make a pretty wretched showing.
But--don't get an exaggerated idea of him. The things I've told you
sound romantic and unusual. If you met him--saw him every day--you'd
realize he's not at all--at least, not much--out of the ordinary."

"Perhaps," said Miss Hastings shrewdly, "perhaps I'm getting a better
idea of him than you who see him so often."

"Oh, you'll run across him sometime," said Davy, who was bearing up no
better than would the next man under the strain of a woman's interest
in and excitement about another man. "When you do, you'll get enough
in about five minutes. You see, he's not a gentleman ."

"I'm not sure that I'm wildly crazy about gentlemen--AS gentlemen,"
replied the girl. "Very few of the interesting people I've read about
in history and biography have been gentlemen."

"And very few of them would have been pleasant to associate with,"
rejoined Hull. "You'll admire Victor as I do. But you'll feel--as I
do--that there's small excuse for a man who has been educated, who has
associated with upper class people, turning round and inciting the
lower classes against everything that's fine and improving."

It was now apparent to the girl that David Hull was irritatedly jealous
of this queer Victor Dorn--was jealous of her interest in him. Her
obvious cue was to fan this flame. In no other way could she get any
amusement out of Davy's society; for his tendency was to be heavily
serious--and she wanted no more of the too strenuous love making, yet
wanted to keep him "on the string." This jealousy was just the means
for her end. Said she innocently: "If it irritates you, Davy, we
won't talk about him."

"Not at all--not at all," cried Hull. "I simply thought you'd be
getting tired of hearing so much about a man you'd never known."

"But I feel as if I did know him," replied she. "Your account of him
was so vivid. I thought of asking you to bring him to call."

Hull laughed heartily. "Victor Dorn--calling!"

"Why not?"

"He doesn't do that sort of thing. And if he did, how could I bring
him here?"

"Why not?"

"Well--in the first place, you are a lady--and he is not in your class.
Of course, men can associate with each other in politics and business.
But the social side of life--that's different."

"But a while ago you were talking about my going in for politics," said
Miss Hastings