CHAPTER IX
A CLEAR CALL
THE tinkle of the telephone disturbed the family as they were at dinner, and Connie, who sat nearest, rose to answer the summons, while Carol, at her corner of the table struck a tragic attitude.
"If Joe Graves has broken anything, he's broken our friendship for good and all. These fellows that break themselves—"
"Break themselves?" asked her father gravely.
"Yes,—any of his members, you know, his leg, or his arm, or,—If he has, I must say frankly that I hope it is his neck. These boys that break themselves at the last minute, thereby breaking dates, are—"
"Well," Connie said calmly, "if you're through, I'll begin."
"Oh, goodness, Connie, deafen one ear and listen with the other. You've got to learn to hear in a hubbub. Go on then, I'm through. But I haven't forgotten that I missed the Thanksgiving banquet last year because Phil broke his ankle that very afternoon on the ice. What business had he on the ice when he had a date—"
"Ready?" asked Connie, as the phone rang again, insistently.
"Go on, then. Don't wait until I get started. Answer it."