"
"So do I."
"Yet you associate with that printer's devil."
"I consider him a gentleman."
Fletcher laughed scornfully.
"You have strange ideas of a gentleman," he said.
"I hold the same," said James Hooper, who had come up in time to hear
the last portion of the conversation. "I don't think a full purse is
the only or the chief qualification of a gentleman. If labor is to
be a disqualification, then I must resign all claims to be considered
a gentleman, as I worked on a farm for two years before coming to
school, and in that way earned the money to pay my expenses here."
Fletcher turned up his nose, but did not reply.
Hooper was a good scholar and influential in the Society, but in
Fletcher's eyes he was unworthy of consideration.
"Look here, Fletcher,--what makes you so confoundedly exclusive is
your ideas?" asked Henry Fairbanks.
"Because I respect myself," said Fletcher in rather a surly tone.
"Then you have one admirer," said Fairbanks.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Fletcher, suspiciously.
"Nothing out of the way. I believe in self-respect, but I don't see
how it is going to be endangered by the admission of Oscar's friend
to the Society."
"Am I expected to associate on equal terms with a printer's devil?"
"I can't answer for you. As for me, if he is a good fellow, I shall
welcome him to our ranks.
Pages:
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70