“_One Man to Every Ten!_”
Late the following afternoon, as the judicial member of the Y examiners
was leaving the building, his path was barred by a huge, rotund figure
in khaki which rose from a bench in the hall. It was Dalrymple.
“I’ve been blocking traffic here for an hour,” the giant explained.
“Look at me! It’s the biggest uniform in New York, and it was made in
the shortest time.” Noting the effect his appearance created, he went
on, “I suppose I do look funny, but—there’s nothing funny to me about
it.”
The elder man’s face grew serious.
“I’m beginning to believe you’ll make good, Dalrymple. I hope so, for
your sake and for the sake of the Association. If you don’t, we’ll have
to order you back.”
“I’ll take that chance. You gentlemen think I’m unfit to wear these
clothes and—maybe I was yesterday, or even this morning. But when I saw
myself in this uniform I took stock and cleaned house. I got all my bad
habits together and laid them away in moth-balls for the duration of the
war.”
“That means something for a man like you. What induced you to do it?”
“This.” Dimples stroked his khaki sleeve with reverent, caressing
fingers. “It’s almost like the real thing, isn’t it? Not quite, but near
enough. It’s as near as I can ever get, and I sha’n’t do anything to
disgrace it. I can shut my eyes and imagine it _is_ the real thing. I
don’t suppose you understand in the least what I’m driving at—”
“I think I understand thoroughly, sir. But don’t believe for a moment
there is anything counterfeit, anything bullet-proof, about what you
have on. You will be fighting, Dalrymple, just the same as the other
boys; every service you perform, every word of cheer, every deed of
kindness, will be a bomb dropped back of the German lines. Why, man, do
you know that the work of the Y. M. C. A. adds ten per cent. to our
fighting force? It’s a fact; Pershing says so. If you make good, you’ll
be adding one man to every ten you meet.”
“‘One man to every ten!’” Dimples breathed. “That’s great! That’s more
than I could have done the other way. I’m good for something, after
all.”
* * * * *
It seemed impossible that a wealthy, prominent young New York club-man
could so quickly, so utterly drop out of sight as did Dimples Dalrymple.
One day he was in his familiar haunts, a rotund, mirth-provoking
spectacle in his bulging uniform, with his tiny overseas cap set above
his round, red face like the calyx of a huge ripe berry; the next day he
was gone, and for several months thereafter his world knew him not.
[Illustration: A ROTUND, MIRTH-PROVOKING SPECTACLE IN HIS BULGING
UNIFORM, WITH HIS TINY OVERSEAS CAP SET ABOVE HIS ROUND, RED FACE LIKE
THE CALYX OF A HUGE RIPE BERRY]
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