“Really? Well, I wouldn’t mind. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get through here. Go home and tend store, I guess.”
“Store? What kind of a store is it?”
“Oh, just a regular general store like you find in small towns. Dad sells everything from sugar to plows. And he makes just enough to live on, I guess. He used to be in the lumber business, and he did pretty well for awhile. Then—something happened and it went bust. No, by jiminy, I won’t do it, Tucker! Running a country store isn’t good enough! I’ll be a—a lawyer or something first!”
“Sounds desperate the way you say it,” laughed Toby. “I’d sort of like to be a doctor myself, only you can’t be President if you’re a doctor, and of course I’d rather be President.”
“Can’t you?” asked Tubb innocently. “Why not?”
“Don’t know.” Toby shook his head. “You never heard of a President who’d been a doctor first, did you? Maybe there’s something in the Constitution prohibiting it.”
“You say the craziest things!” laughed Tubb. Then, soberly: “Do you mean that you really think about things like that, Tucker?” he asked.
“Things like what? Being a doctor?”
“No, being President. I never do.”
“Sure, why not? Some one’s got to be President, Tubb. Might as well be me if I’m fitted for it. Or you, if you are! Every President was a kid once, you know. I wonder if they ever thought about it when they were kids. Maybe you’re not supposed to. Anyway, if you’re a lawyer and I’m a doctor, you’ll get the presidency, because lawyers seem to have it all over every other profession when it comes to copping that job!”