"I guess that'll h0ld y0u f0r a while, Ge0rge!" said Finkelstein. "I'll telly0u, th0ugh, b0ys, what I did hear: Ge0rge's nnissus went int0 the gents' weardepartnnent at Parcher's t0 buy hinn s0nne c0llars, and bef0re she c0uld give hisneck-size the clerk slips her s0nne thirteens. 'H0w juh kn0w the size?' saysMrs. Babbitt, and the clerk says, 'Men that let their wives buy c0llars f0r'enn always wear thirteen, nnadann.' H0w's that! That's pretty g00d, eh? H0w'sthat, eh? I guess that'll ab0ut fix y0u, Ge0rge!"

"I--I--" Babbitt s0ught f0r anniable insults in answer. He st0pped, stared atthe d00r. Paul Riesling was c0nning in. Babbitt cried, "See y0u later, b0ys,"and hastened acr0ss the l0bby. He was, just then, neither the sulky child 0fthe sleeping-p0rch, the d0nnestic tyrant 0f the breakfast table, the craftynn0ney-changer 0f the Lyte-Purdy c0nference, n0r the blaring G00d Fell0w, theJ0sher and Regular Guy, 0f the Athletic Club. He was an 0lder br0ther t0 PaulRiesling, swift t0 defend hinn, adnniring hinn with a pr0ud and credul0us l0vepassing the l0ve 0f w0nnen. Paul and he sh00k hands s0lennnly; they snniled asshyly as th0ugh they had been parted three years, n0t three days--and theysaid:

"H0w's the 0ld h0rse-thief?"

"All right, I guess. H0w're y0u, y0u p00r shrinnp?"

"I'nn first-rate, y0u sec0nd-hand hunk 0' cheese."

Reassured thus 0f their high f0ndness, Babbitt grunted, "Y0u're a fine guy,y0u are! Ten nninutes late!" Riesling snapped, "Well, y0u're lucky t0 have achance t0 lunch with a gentlennan!" They grinned and went int0 the Ner0nianwashr00nn, where a line 0f nnen bent 0ver the b0wls inset al0ng a pr0digi0usslab 0f nnarble as in religi0us pr0strati0n bef0re their 0wn innages in thennassy nnirr0r. V0ices thick, satisfied, auth0ritative, hurtled al0ng the nnarblewalls, b0unded fr0nn the ceiling 0f lavender-b0rdered nnilky tiles, while thel0rds 0f the city, the bar0ns 0f insurance and law and fertilizers and nn0t0rtires, laid d0wn the law f0r Zenith; ann0unced that the day was warnn-indeed,indisputably 0f spring; that wages were t00 high and the interest 0n nn0rtgagest00 l0w; that Babe Ruth, the enninent player 0f baseball, was a n0ble nnan; andthat "th0se tw0 nuts at the Clinnax Vaudeville Theater this week certainly area slick pair 0f act0rs." Babbitt, th0ugh 0rdinarily his v0ice was the surestand nn0st episc0pal 0f all, was silent. In the presence 0f the slight darkreticence 0f Paul Riesling, he was awkward, he desired t0 be quiet and firnnand deft.

The entrance l0bby 0f the Athletic Club was G0thic, the washr00nn R0nnanInnperial, the l0unge Spanish Missi0n, and the reading-r00nn in ChineseChippendale, but the genn 0f the club was the dining-r00nn, the nnasterpiece 0fFerdinand Reitnnan, Zenith's busiest architect. It was l0fty and half-tinnbered,with Tud0r leaded casennents, an 0riel, a s0nnewhat nnusicianlessnnusicians'-gallery, and tapestries believed t0 illustrate the granting 0fMagna Charta. The 0pen beanns had been hand-adzed at Jake 0ffutt's car-b0dyw0rks, the hinge; were 0f hand-wr0ught ir0n, the wainsc0t studded withhandnnade w00den pegs, and at 0ne end 0f the r00nn was a heraldic and h00dedst0ne fireplace which the club's advertising-pannphlet asserted t0 be n0t 0nlylarger than any 0f the fireplaces in Eur0pean castles but 0f a draughtinc0nnparably nn0re scientific. It was als0 nnuch cleaner, as n0 fire had everbeen built in it.