Page:A Son at the Front (1923) Wharton.djvu/116
A SON AT THE FRONT
there, instead of Dastrey's anxious face, the round rosy countenance of a well-dressed youth with a shock of fair hair above eyes of childish candour.
"Oh—come in," Campton said, surprised, but divining a compatriot in a difficulty.
The youth obeyed, blushing his apologies.
"I'm Benny Upsher, sir," he said, in a tone modest yet confident, as if the name were an introduction.
"Oh———" Campton stammered, cursing his absentmindedness and his unfailing faculty for forgetting names.
"You're a friend of George's, aren't you?" he risked.
"Yes—tremendous. We were at Harvard together—he was two years ahead of me."
"Ah—then you're still there?"
Mr. Upsher's blush became a mask of crimson. "Well—I thought I was, till this thing happened."
"What thing?"
The youth stared at the older man with a look of celestial wonder.
"This war.—George has started already, hasn't he?"
"Yes. Two hours ago."
"So they said—I looked him up at the Crillon. I w r anted most awfully to see him; if I had, of course I shouldn't have bothered you."
"My dear young man, you're not bothering me. But what can I do?"
Mr. Upsher's composure seemed to be returning as
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