"Well, why not?
There was once a rail splitter--" "Oh, I know.

But the rail splitter was born a president; and it is a far cry to a circus rider who was not born even a gentleman." "Perhaps.

Yet, right or wrong, hasn't the war stretched a little the safety net of our democracy?
Isn't it just possible to-day that we might find a circus rider who was born a president too ?" Then before he could toss back her questions she asked quickly, "After all, he didn't actually ride, did he ?" Benham shrugged his shoulders, a gesture he had acquired in France.
"I've heard so, but I don't know.

They tell queer tales of his early years.

That was before the golden age of the movies, you see; and I suspect that the movies rather than the war introduced the mock heroic into politics." He was still standing at her side, looking down into her upraised eyes, which made him think of brown velvet.