With true chivalry young ladies' schools had been given the best
positions on the wharf, and Sam soon found himself passing through a
double row of pretty girls. He could hear such remarks as this:
"Isn't he good-looking!"
"What a lovely uniform!"
"Hasn't he got a fascinating limp!"
"How pale he is!"
"He does look just like a hero."
Sam flushed slightly at these comments, but suddenly, before he had
time to collect his thoughts, a slight form sprang forward from the
left and an inviting face presented itself to his, and with the words,
"May I, please?" a hearty kiss was planted on his lips. Sam had no
time to decline, if he had wished to. A murmur of surprise and delight
arose from the crowd, and in another moment another damsel rushed upon
him, and then another and another. Before long he was the center of a
throng of elbowing young ladies of all kinds, fair, plain, and
indifferent, all bent upon giving him a kiss. Sam had indeed lost his
nerve; for the first time in his life he capitulated absolutely and let
the attacking party work its sweet will. It was with great difficulty
that he was rescued by the reception committee and finally seated next
to the Mayor in the landau.
"What a lot of cab-drivers you have there on the wharf!" said Sam to
the Mayor, after their first greetings. "I never saw so many. Hear them
crying out to the passengers coming ashore!"
"They're not cab-drivers," he answered.
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