Lefty dropped on top of the box and gazed at Panama with a look of miscomprehension. “What are you talking about? You don’t mean that—not Elinor?” Panama nodded his head with enthusiasm, smiling with self-satisfaction over the idea he had perfected. “Sure—Elinor! Last night, when I went over to ask her, I lost my nerve again. There we were, by the old Mission gate, alone in the moonlight with no one within a mile of us and I couldn’t work up enough guts to say the word!” “Why not?” the boy asked in a cool manner of indifference. “I was helpless, licked! Don’t you see, kid? I can’t talk! But you and your college learnin’! Say, that’s how I got the idea! It’ll be a cinch——” Panama’s proposition completely stunned the other man and he sat gazing blankly at his friend with wide, uncomprehending eyes, certain that his very ears were deceiving him. “You—you want me to ask her for you?” “Sure! Why not? You’re the only guy in the world that I’d let do that for me!” Lefty walked to the front of the tent, unloosened one of the flaps and threw it back to allow the air to come in. “You’re crazy, man!” he said, completely dismissing the entire wild idea from his mind. “Crazy?” Panama repeated, laughing cruelly. “Listen, picture yourself out in that moonlight in the shadow of the old Mission with a lot of greasers singin’ lovesick ballads and the big, silver moon shinin’ down on you with Elinor by your side and you——” “For God’s sake, will you shut up?” the nerve-wracked boy screamed, no longer able to control his burning emotions. “What’s the matter with you, anyway?” Panama asked, not aware of his friend’s reason for refusing his request. “Nothing’s wrong with me,” Lefty announced. “It’s you and your half-baked ideas! You’re out of your mind!” The sergeant’s face darkened as a cloud of disappointment overshadowed his confident smile. “You mean, you won’t?” “I can’t!” Phelps interrupted, striving to hide his true feelings. “I can’t do it and I won’t! If you want the girl, go ask her yourself!” Panama rose and pulled at the boy’s jumper in a determined fashion, completely deaf to his protestations. “Aw, come on. Get them clothes off. You’ll know what to say. I ain’t ever had no education or dealin’s with decent women!” Lefty swung about and faced his friend. His eyes were filled with a mingled look of fear and anxiety. “I can’t ask her that! Don’t you see, I can’t?” “But you gotta, kid! You’ll know what to say! Your book learnin’ will help. Don’t flop me, will ya?” “I tell you, you’re crazy!” the boy bellowed, angrily. “What do you think I am, anyway—your dog?” A look of pain crept over Panama’s face. He saw all of his plans and dream castles crumble to earth with Lefty’s refusal to act as his proxy. “Aw, no, I don’t think nothin’ like that. I ain’t tellin’ you to ask her, I’m beggin’ you as a pal!”