Hugo did as he had been ordered and they walked side by side to the gymnasium. Hugo had once seen a small gymnasium, ill equipped and badly lighted, and it had appealed mightily to him. Now he stood in a prodigious vaulted room with a shimmering floor, a circular balcony, a varied array of apparatus. His hands clenched. Lefty quit him for a moment and came back with a man who wore knickers. "Mr. Woodman, this is—what the hell's your name?"
"Danner. Hugo Danner."
"Mr. Woodman is football coach."
Hugo took the man's hand. Lefty excused himself. Mr. Woodman said: "Young Foresman said you played football."
"Just on a high-school team in Colorado."
"Said you were husky. Go in my office and ask Fitzsimmons to give you a gym suit. Come out when you're ready."
Hugo undressed and put on the suit. Fitzsimmons, the trainer, looked at him with warm admiration. "You're sure built, son."
"Yeah. That's luck, isn't it?"
Then Hugo was taken to another office. Woodman asked him a number of questions about his weight, his health, his past medical history. He listened to Hugo's heart and then led him to a scale. Hugo had lied about his weight.
"I thought you said one hundred and sixty, Mr. Danner?"