So be careful, Eph. If anyone starts
to have any fun with you, come back at him a different way."
"How?" whispered Eph.
"Look stupid."
"What?"
"Look stupid."
"I don't see much in that."
"Why, it's the funniest answer possible; and, besides, it isn't fresh or
forward."
"How do you make that out?" Eph inquired.
"Why, Eph, boy, if you're half as famous as you may think you are, then
folks will know you can't be stupid. So, if you pretend to be, you'll
have everyone guessing what you mean by looking that way. On the other
hand, if you look stupid, and no one is surprised, then you'll
discover that that's just the way the crowd had you sized up in
advance."
"I see," nodded Eph, but it was plain that Jack's almost direct command
was not wholly pleasing to Somers.
The two comrades now caught up with Ulwin and Hal at the elevator.
"We'll go up to the reading room, first," proposed Lieutenant Ulwin.
"That's where the afternoon crowd is usually found."
Anyone who had been looking for "color" or pomp would have been
disappointed. The only uniforms in sight were those worn by two bell
boys.
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