Cupid's Understudy

There is no doubt that Mr. Porter quite captivated Dad. "You make me feel like a boy," he said, after listening to a delightfully whimsical account of conditions in Peru. "By George, that's a country for you! And Ecuador, I've always thought that must be an interesting place. Have you ever been there?"

Yes, Mr. Porter had been to Ecuador. And there was a certain rail- road in India he had helped put through. India! Now that WAS a place! Had Dad ever been to India?

No, Dad had never been to India, but . . . "Good Lord, boy, how old are you, anyway?"

"Thirty-two."

"Well, I never would have guessed it. Would you, Elizabeth?"

This, too, was rather embarrassing, but I managed to say I thought Mr. Porter didn't look a day over twenty-eight.

"It's the life he leads," Dad declared with an air of proprietorship--"out of doors all day long. It must be great!"

"It IS interesting. But I think I like it best for what it has done for one; you see, I was s