"Tom Carver will be sure to be there, and if I don't dance, or if I am awkward, he will be sure to sneer at me."
"Will that make you feel bad, Dan?"
"Not exactly, but I don't want to appear at disadvantage when he is around. If I have been a newsboy, I want to show that I can take the part of gentleman as well as he."
"Does the ability to dance make a gentleman, Dan?"
"No, mother, but I should feel awkward without it. I don't want to be a wall-flower. What do you say to my plan, mother?"
"Carry it out by all means, Dan. There is no reason why you shouldn't hold up your head with any of them," and Mrs. Mordaunt's eyes rested with pride on the handsome face and manly expression of her son.
"You are a little prejudiced in my favor, mother," said Dan, smiling. "If I were as awkward as a cat in a strange garret, you wouldn't see it."
"I am not quite blind, Dan."
Dan accordingly decided to take lessons in dancing. He selected a fashionable teacher, although the price was high, for he thought it might secure him desirable acquaintances, purchased a handsome suit of clothes, and soon became very much interested in the lessons. He had a quick ear, a good figure, and a natural grace of movement, which soon made him noticeable in the class, and he was quite in demand among the young ladies as a partner.
He was no less a favorite socially, being agreeable as well as good-looking.