You see, she's always engaged."
"Engaged!" exclaimed the unhappy youth. "How long has she been engaged,
and to whom?"
"Why, this time she's only been engaged two weeks," said the waiter,
"and it's Cadet Saunders she's engaged to; but don't worry, sir, it's
an old story. She's been engaged to a different man every summer for
six years, and at first she generally had two men a summer. She began
with officers of the first class, two in a year; then she fell off to
one in a season; then she dropped to third class; and now she has Mr.
Saunders because his nose isn't just right, sir, if I may say so."
Sam hardly knew what to think. The news of her engagement had plunged
him into despair, but the information that engagement was with her a
temporary matter was decidedly welcome; and even if it were couched in
language that could hardly be called flattering, still he was glad to
hear it. Sam thanked the waiter and gave him a silver coin which he
could ill spare from his pay, but he was satisfied that he had got his
money's worth.
Sam ruminated deep and long over this hard-wrung gossip. He could not
believe that the object of his dreams was no longer in her first
girlhood. There was some mistake. Then it was absurd to suppose that
she was reduced to the acceptance of inferior third-class men. How
could a waiter understand the charms of Saunders' historical nose?
Evidently she had selected him from the whole corps on account of his
exploits as an object of hazing.
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