CHAPTER 11TWO UNEXPECTED HAPPENINGS occurred on the road to Birch Mountain Monastery: Professor Steward proved interesting to Hansen, and McCormick turned girl-shy.
McCormick’s condition was obvious from the outset of the drive in the limousine with liveried chauffeur which the State Department had provided. In a white, starched collar and highly polished shoes, wearing an immaculately creased dark blue suit, the commander sat rigidly between his tutor and the captain. He reminded Hansen of a class portrait for Yale, class of 1898, and Hansen commented on his rigidity.
“Captain, it’s not that I’m meeting a girl. It’s that I’m meeting a virgin.”
“They’re much like other young ladies,” Hansen said, “except shyer and more modest.”
“Sir, I know she’s going to be shy, and if she don’t know
