Page:Lynch Williams--The girl and the game.djvu/290

 man. He felt benignantly sorry for all the others who were not also new men—but did not tell them so unless he knew them well enough. One night at a house-party in the Christmas holidays a very young New Yorker, of the would-be-wicked-variety—yes, he was a "paper sport"—tried to get the Parson to join with him in a game in the smoking-room with some of the older men of the party. The Parson thanked them for the honor, bowed politely and begged to be excused.

"What, and you a Kentuckian!" exclaimed one of the older men, who was shocked.

"It certainly does sound very incongruous," said the Parson, smiling urbanely, "but you'll have to manage without me, I reckon."

"Oh, come on, old man," said the paper sport.

"If I were playing," thought Reddy, "you would be an easy mark." But he only said, "Thank you, no." The older men had, of course, stopped urging him.