Almost
every one in the room rose to their feet. A college boy sprang upon
a table with extended arms. The Yale shout split the room. The
very glasses on the table rattled.
"Columbia! Columbia!"
It was an Englishman now who had leaped upon a vacant table with
upraised glass. There was an answering roar of enthusiasm. Every
one drank, and every one sat down again with a pleasant thrill of
excitement at this unique scene. Felix leaned back in his chair
and marveled.
"One would have imagined," he murmured, "that America and England
together were at war with the rest of the world and had won a great
victory. To think that this is all the result of a yacht race. It
is incredible!"
"All your life, my dear Felix," Mr. Sabin remarked, "you have
underrated the sporting instinct. It has a great place amongst the
impulses of the world. See how it has brought these people
together."
"But they are already of the same kin," Felix remarked. "Their
interests and aims are alike. Their destinies are surely identical."
Mr. Sabin, who had lit his cigarette, watched the blue smoke curl
upwards, and was thoughtful for a moment.
"My dear Felix!" he said. "You are very, very young. The interests
of two great nations such as America and England can never be alike.
It is the language of diplomacy, but it is also the language of
fools.
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