FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77  
78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   >>  
and Laura will come down and gladden our hearts by letting us drag you, won't you!" "Drag us?" repeated Belle, much mystified. "Oh, that's middies' slang for escorting a pretty girl to a midshipman hop." "You have a lot of slang, then, I suppose." "Considerable," admitted Dave readily. "What, then, is your slang for a pretty girl?" "Oh, we call her a queen." "And a girl who is--who isn't--pretty!" "A gold brick," answered Dave unblushingly. "A gold brick?" gasped Belle. "Dear me! 'Dragging a gold brick' to a hop doesn't sound romantic, does it?" "It isn't," Darrin admitted. "Yet you have invited me--" "Our class hasn't started in with its course of social compliments yet," laughed Dave. "Please go look in the glass. Or, if you won't believe the glass, then just wait and see how proud Dan and I are if we can lead you and Laura out on the dancing floor." "But what horrid slang!" protested Belle. "The idea of calling a homely girl a gold brick! And I thought you young men received more or less training in being gracious to the weaker sex." "We do," Dave answered, "as soon as we can find any use for the accomplishment. Fourth classmen, you know, are considered too young to associate with girls. It's only now, when we've made a start in the third class, that we're to be allowed to attend the hops at all." "But why must you have to have such horrid names for girls who have not been greatly favored in the way of looks? It doesn't sound exactly gallant." "Oh, well, you know," laughed Dave, "we poor, despised, no-account middies must have some sort of sincere language to talk after we get our masks off for the day. I suppose we like the privilege, for a few minutes in each day, of being fresh, like other young folks." "What is your name for 'fresh' down at Annapolis!" Belle wanted to know. "Touge." "And for being a bit worse than touge?" "Ratey." "Which did they call you?" demanded Belle. Dave started, then sat up straight, staring at Miss Meade. "I see that your tongue hasn't lost its old incisiveness," he laughed. "Not among my friends," Belle replied lightly. "But I can't get my mind off that uniform of yours that you didn't bring home. What would have happened to you if you had been bold enough to do it?" "I guess I'd have 'frapped the pap,'" hazarded Dave. "And what on earth is 'frapping the pap'?" gasped Belle. "Oh, that's a brief way of telling about it when a
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77  
78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   >>  



Top keywords:

laughed

 

pretty

 

horrid

 

started

 

suppose

 
middies
 

admitted

 

gasped

 

answered

 
frapping

hazarded

 
minutes
 

frapped

 

privilege

 

sincere

 

greatly

 

gallant

 

telling

 

favored

 

despised


account

 

language

 

tongue

 

straight

 

staring

 

incisiveness

 

friends

 

replied

 

uniform

 

lightly


Annapolis

 
wanted
 

demanded

 

happened

 

invited

 
social
 

Darrin

 

Dragging

 

romantic

 

compliments


Please

 

unblushingly

 

letting

 

repeated

 

hearts

 

gladden

 
mystified
 

readily

 

Considerable

 

escorting