"I do; I may know the feeling in the upper classes better than you do." "Gimbel, how much of this is real opposition and how much is worked up by you and others?" "My dear Stover, why ask who is responsible? Ask if the opposition is genuine and whether it's going to stick." "I don't believe it is." "That's not it. What you want to know is how much is conviction in me, and how much is just the fun of running things and stirring up mischief." "That does puzzle me--yes. But what I want _you_ to see is, you're splitting up the class." "I'm not doing it, and you're not doing it. It's the class ahead that's interfering and doing it. Now, Stover, I've answered your questions. Will you answer mine?" "That's fair." "If you put up a candidate, why shouldn't we?" "But you make politics out of it." "Do you ever support the candidate of another crowd?" Stover was silent. "Stover, do you know that for years these elections have gone on with just three candidates offered, one each from your three sophomore societies? And how have they been run? By putting up your lame ducks." "Oh, come." "Not always. But if you think you can elect a weak member instead of a strong one, you trot out the lame duck. Why? Because at the bottom you are not really social, but political; because your main object is to get as many of your men into senior societies as you can." "Well, why not?" "Because you're doing it at the expense of the class--by making us bolster up the weak ones with an office." "I don't think that's entirely fair." "You'll see. Look at the last candidates the sophomores put up. You haven't answered my questions. Why shouldn't we non-society men, six-sevenths of the class, have the right to put up our candidates and elect them?" "You have," said Stover; "but, Gimbel, you're not doing it for that. You're doing it to knock us out." "Quite true." "That means the whole class goes to smash--that we're going to have nothing but fights and hard feelings from now on. Is that what you want?" "Stover, it's a bigger thing than just the peace of mind of our class." "But what is your objection to us?" said Stover. "My objection is that just that class feeling and harmony you spoke of your societies have already destroyed." "In what way?" "Because you break in and take little groups out of the body of the class and herd together." "You exaggerate." "Oh, no, I don't; and you'll see it more next year. You've formed your crowd, and you'll stick together and you'll all do everything you can to help each other along. That's natural. But don't come and say to me that we fellows are dividing the class." "Rats, Gimbel! Just because I'm in a soph isn't going to make any difference with the men I see." "You think so?" said Gimbel, looking at him with real curiosity. "You bet it won't." "Wait and see." "That's too ridiculous!" Stover, feeling his anger gaining possession of him, rose abruptly. "How can it be otherwise?" said Gimbel, persisting.