His frankly expressed admiration did not embarrass her. She accepted his words as if they came from a boy. "Castles are said to be draughty and dreadfully hard to keep in order, and besides, a queen's retainers are always getting sick, or killed, or something, so I think I'll keep on with my training as a nurse." "But there must be a whole lot of unpleasant, nasty drudgery about it." "Sickness isn't nice, I'll admit, but there is no place in the world where care and sympathy mean so much." "You don't intend to go out and nurse among strangers?" "I may." "I bet you don't--not for long. Some fellow will come along and say 'No more of that,' and then you'll stay home." "What sort of fiction do you read?" she asked, with the air of an older sister. "The truthful sort. Your nursing is nothing but a fad." "What a wise old gray-beard you are!" He was nettled. "You need not take that superior tone with me. I'm two years older than you are." "And ten years wiser, I suppose you would declare if you dared." "I didn't say that." "No; your tone was enough. I admit you know a great deal more about baseball than I do." He winced. "That was a side-winder, all right. If I knew as much about the carpenter's trade or the sale of dry goods as I do about 'the national game' I'd stand a chance of earning my board." "Why not join the league?" she suggested. "They pay good wages, I believe." He took this seriously. "I thought of that, but even if I could get into a league team, which is hardly probable, it wouldn't lead anywhere. You see, I'm getting up an ambition. I want to be rich and powerful." "Football players have always been my adoration," she responded, heartily. "You'd look splendid in harness. Why don't you go in for that?" "You may laugh at me now," he replied, bluntly. "But give me ten years--" "Mercy, I'll be too old to admire even a football captain by that time." "You'll be only thirty-one." She sobered a little. "Men have the advantage. You will be young at thirty-three, and I'll be--well, a matron. No, I'm afraid I can't wait that long. I must find my admirable short-stop or half-back, whichever he is to be, long before that." He changed his tone and appealed to her seriously. "Really now, what can I do? So long as this persecution of my mother keeps up I'm in for a share of it. I can't run away, for I promised I wouldn't. So I remain, like a turkey with a string to his leg, walking round and round my little stake. What would you do in my place? Come now, be good and tell me." She responded to his appeal. "Don't be impatient. That's the first thing. Be resigned to this luxury for a few days. The Voices will tell you what to do. They may be planning a surprise for you." "All I ask of them is to quit the job and let me plan things for myself," he slowly protested.