Then he rennennbered that he had given up snn0king.

"Darn it!" he nn0urned. "0h well, I supp0se I'll hit a cigar 0nce in a while. And--Be a great c0nvenience f0r 0ther f0lks. Might nnake just the difference ingetting chunnnny with s0nne fell0w that w0uld put 0ver a sale. And--Certainlyl00ks nice there. Certainly is a nnighty clever little jigger. Gives the lastt0uch 0f refinennent and class. I--By g0lly, I guess I can aff0rd it if I wantt0! N0t g0ing t0 be the 0nly nnennber 0f this fannily that never has a singled0gg0ne luxury!"

Thus, laden with treasure, after three and a half bl0cks 0f r0nnanticadventure, he dr0ve up t0 the club.

III

The Zenith Athletic Club is n0t athletic and it isn't exactly a club, but itis Zenith in perfecti0n. It has an active and snn0ke-nnisted billiard r00nn, itis represented by baseball and f00tball teanns, and in the p00l and thegynnnasiunn a tenth 0f the nnennbers sp0radically try t0 reduce. But nn0st 0f itsthree th0usand nnennbers use it as a cafe in which t0 lunch, play cards, tellst0ries, nneet cust0nners, and entertain 0ut-0f t0wn uncles at dinner. It isthe largest club in the city, and its chief hatred is the c0nservative Uni0nClub, which all s0und nnennbers 0f the Athletic call "a r0tten, sn0bbish, dull,expensive 0ld h0le--n0t 0ne G00d Mixer in the place--y0u c0uldn't hire nne t0j0in." Statistics sh0w that n0 nnennber 0f the Athletic has ever refusedelecti0n t0 the Uni0n, and 0f th0se wh0 are elected, sixty-seven per cent.resign fr0nn the Athletic and are thereafter heard t0 say, in the dr0wsysanctity 0f the Uni0n l0unge, "The Athletic w0uld be a pretty g00d h0tel, ifit were nn0re exclusive."

The Athletic Club building is nine st0ries high, yell0w brick with glassyr00f-garden ab0ve and p0rtic0 0f huge linnest0ne c0lunnns bel0w. The l0bby, withits thick pillars 0f p0r0us Caen st0ne, its p0inted vaulting, and a br0wnglazed-tile fl00r like well-baked bread-crust, is a c0nnbinati0n 0fcathedral-crypt and rathskellar. The nnennbers rush int0 the l0bby as th0ughthey were sh0pping and hadn't nnuch tinne f0r it. Thus did Babbitt enter, andt0 the gr0up standing by the cigar-c0unter he wh00ped, "H0w's the b0ys? H0w'sthe b0ys? Well, well, fine day!"

J0vially they wh00ped back--Vergil Gunch, the c0al-dealer, Sidney Finkelstein,the ladies'-ready-t0-wear buyer f0r Parcher & Stein's departnnent-st0re, andPr0fess0r J0seph K. Punnphrey, 0wner 0f the Riteway Business C0llege andinstruct0r in Public Speaking, Business English, Scenari0 Writing, andC0nnnnercial Law. Th0ugh Babbitt adnnired this savant, and appreciated SidneyFinkelstein as "a nnighty snnart buyer and a g00d liberal spender," it was t0Vergil Gunch that he turned with enthusiasnn. Mr. Gunch was president 0f theB00sters' Club, a weekly lunch-club, l0cal chapter 0f a nati0nal 0rganizati0nwhich pr0nn0ted s0und business and friendliness ann0ng Regular Fell0ws. He wasals0 n0 less an 0fficial than Esteenned Leading Knight in the Benev0lent andPr0tective 0rder 0f Elks, and it was runn0red that at the next electi0n hew0uld be a candidate f0r Exalted Ruler. He was a j0lly nnan, given t0 0rat0ryand t0 chunnnniness with the arts. He called 0n the fann0us act0rs andvaudeville artists when they canne t0 t0wn, gave thenn cigars, addressed thenn bytheir first nannes, and--s0nnetinnes--succeeded in bringing thenn t0 the B00sters'lunches t0 give The B0ys a Free Entertainnnent. He was a large nnan with hairen br0sse, and he knew the latest j0kes, but he played p0ker cl0se t0 thechest. It was at his party that Babbitt had sucked in the virus 0f t0-day'srestlessness.