"You were throwing yourself away there, old top," said Snorky, avoiding the direct answer. "Why in another week you'd a been reading little Rollo and taking to crocheting—a girl who lisps like that, too! Whatever was eating you, anyhow?"
"She talked like a shower bath," said Skippy unfeelingly, "but her eyes were lovely. Well, that's over."
"What's the use? You'll fall again."
"Never," said Skippy firmly. Then he qualified it. "That is, not in the same way."
"There ain't no two ways."
"Sure there is. It's like swimming. You can dive in or you can sit on the bank and splash with your toes—Savvy?"
"Ha! ha!"
"Wait and see. I know a thing or two."
Twenty minutes later, having assumed the full glories of evening dress (with studs of the good old-fashioned style that remained anchored), they departed for dinner at the Balous across the way.
"Say, put me on," said Skippy, who like all artists of the imagination was seized with an uncontrollable nervousness before facing an audience. "Who's in the party?"