“Then it’s the way I say it. It really isn’t silly. Look here, didn’t you want to run out and hug Dan Vinton last Spring when he hit out that two-bagger that tied the Broadwood game? Weren’t you proud of him? Didn’t you think he was about the finest thing that ever played baseball?”
“You bet!”
“Well, there you are! You did the same thing, didn’t you, last Fall? And you’re still doing it, aren’t you? That’s why you’re some pumpkins here, old scout; why the Prep Class youngsters get in your way and stare at you soulfully until you fall over them. Then they get together and show the toe you stepped on and boast how much it hurts! That’s why fellows try to be nice to you, even if you don’t see it, and why dozens of them will be as sweet as candy to me for days because I know you well enough to go paddling with you. And that’s why I’m here now. It isn’t because I care a cent about you; you bore me to death, but I want the other fellows to see me with you. Reflected glory. Get me?”
Kendall looked startledly at The Duke until the latter began to grin. Then he smiled and looked relieved.
“I never thought of that,” he murmured. “I—I’m glad.”
“Well, don’t think of it too much, now,” cautioned The Duke. “Perhaps I oughtn’t to have said anything about it. I guess the reason we all like you so well is partly because you—because you’re so unconscious of it. Don’t spoil it, Burtis.”
“I’ll try not to. I don’t more than half believe it, anyway, I guess,” he answered shyly. “I’d like to think, though, that—that fellows did like me a little.”
“You may, O Startled Fawn! And if you take my advice you’ll be a trifle more—more—what’s the word?—responsive. It’s a good thing for a fellow to have friends. It helps here and hereafter. If you go up to college you’ll find that having friends there will make a lot of difference. I’ve never been to college, but that’s what they tell me. And in the meanwhile if there’s any little thing you’d like—a place on the hockey team or the baseball nine or next year’s class presidency or the presidency of your society—what are you, by the way? Oxford, aren’t you?—just mention the fact quite casually. It’s a good time. Maybe you won’t get all you want, but it’s a good plan to let fellows know.”
“I don’t want a thing,” replied Kendall in an alarmed voice.