“Thank you,” returned the young lawyer, somewhat stiffly; “I never drink in the morning.”
“No more do I,” declared the other; “but it’s a chill day this is. Well, and when are you coming round to see the boys? Terry O’Donnell and me, we was just talking about you and Mr. Suydam.”
Van Dyne did not see why it should annoy him to know that he had been the subject of conversation between Pat McCann and Terry O’Donnell, but he was instantly aware of the annoyance. If he intended to throw in his lot with these people, he must look forward to many intimacies not quite to his liking.
“Oh, you were talking about me, were you?” he said.
“We was that,” continued the district leader. “We want you to meet the boys and let them know you, don’t you see? We want you to give them the glad hand.”
When Van Dyne had used this slang phrase to the Judge, it had seemed to him amusing; now it struck him as vulgar.
“We want you to jolly them up a bit,” McCann went on. “The boys will be glad to know you better.”
“Yes,” was the monosyllabic response to this invitation.
The district leader looked at the young lawyer, and his manner changed.
“We’d like to get acquainted with you, Mr. Van Dyne,” he said, “if you’re going to be one of us.”