{"id":1033,"date":"2019-03-27T03:31:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T03:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsnewsforyou.com\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2019-03-27T03:31:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T03:31:02","slug":"the-home-run-by-fannie-hurst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=1033","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Home Run\u201d by Fannie Hurst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fannie Hurst\u2019s writing career began in the pages of The Saturday Evening Post. The all-but-forgotten author was one of the highest paid writers in the United States after World War I. Of Hurst, it was said that \u201cno other living American woman has gone so far in fiction in so short a time.\u201d Her novels Back Street and Imitation of Life were best-sellers of their day, but now her work is mostly out of print.\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0Four-Leaf Clover Club met on Saturday night\u00a0\u2014 a night particularly favored by those who set their alarm clocks for six-thirty\u00a0six\u00a0days out of the week, and whose monthly checks are written\u00a0in four figures, with a decimal\u00a0point after the second.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is true enough that Mrs. S. Stuyvesant Trowbridge, in whose world the only cabbages are Brussels sprouts, and whose sunken gardens and blue pear-shaped diamonds have helped inaugurate a thriving American institution known as the Sunday Supplement, recently gave her famous love and beauty party on Saturday; and that same night has of late become so popular at the Opera that numerous boxes are filled before the close of the second act.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a piquancy about The Cotter\u2019s Saturday Night, however, that makes Mrs. Trowbridge\u2019s weekend seem as utterly without thrills as a grab-bag where the packages are all prizes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is doubtful whether Mrs. S. Stuyvesant Trowbridge, when she inspected the mirror-lined swimming pool the Saturday night of her famous love and beauty function, and directed the spreading of the carpet of\u00a0Jacqueminot\u00a0roses over the triple terraces, experienced the genuine thrill up and down her spine or the pleasant palpitation of heart that disturbed Miss Freda Stutz when she gave the final touch and daub to her highly magnetized red-plush parlor, lowered the shades to shut out Eighth Avenue three stories beneath, and lighted the four arms of the center chandelier.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A bisque angel with dimpled legs and arms and upright wings depended in a first swimming-lesson position from that chandelier; it swung lightly on a bit of red ribbon as Miss Freda passed beneath it\u00a0\u2014\u00a0she paused to steady it with careful hand. Then she dragged the piano stool\u00a0\u2014\u00a0an oak one, with feet in the form of brass claws clutching at crystal balls\u00a0\u2014\u00a0to an inviting angle from the piano, set the flexible neck of a brown-stuff dog on the mantelpiece\u00a0awag, and swept past the red portieres through a bedroom into the kitchen beyond.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A drift of smoke hung like the after-haze of an exploded flashlight powder over the upper portion of the room and wafted slowly toward the window, open two inches from the top.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz bent low over the oven of the stove and ran a wisp of broom straw into the fluffy heart of a new-raised cake\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it came out sleek.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0smile and face and figure were opulent; she ran the edge of a knife carefully between the cake and the sides of the tin, reversed the pan swiftly and removed it from the upside-down cake with the same breathless expectancy that a bride removes the lid of her ring box.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay!\u201d\u00a0she cried.\u00a0\u201cI wish you\u2019d look at that for a two-egg cake!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSwell!\u201d\u00a0cried her daughter, touching the top lightly with her forefinger.\u00a0\u201cCharley and Paw won\u2019t do a thing to it!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz struggled to her feet and raised the lid from a spluttering skillet on the stovetop; the sparks snapped in her face and she cocked her head out of their range.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0Jimmie home yet?\u201d\u00a0Mrs. Stutz inquired.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Say, Maw, I guess I\u2019ll put a damp napkin over the sandwiches\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to serve\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0until half past ten, and it\u2019ll keep\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0fresh.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz turned the chops in the skillet and the spluttering began afresh.\u00a0\u201cTake one of them old napkins in the table drawer there.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay, Maw, do you know what?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u00a0\u2014\u00a0what?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to bring home some swell Boston cheese from the store today\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Charley had it on display\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but I forgot it. There\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0a chance that\u00a0Paw\u2019d\u00a0have any down in the shop\u00a0\u2014\u00a0is there?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou ought to know better than to ask a thing like that! We\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0runnin\u2019\u00a0none of your swell downtown groceries that looks more like a drug store than a respectable place to buy butter\u00a0\u2018n\u2019\u00a0eggs \u2014\u00a0we\u2019re still\u00a0runnin\u2019\u00a0the same little Eighth Avenue grocery you\u00a0was\u00a0raised over, with sawdust on the floor instead of marble\u00a0tilin\u2019, and a pickle barrel near the cashier\u2019s window instead of an icebox made out of\u00a0lookin\u2019-glasses.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen\u00a0Mayme\u00a0had the Club she served them Boston cheese sandwiches, and they were great!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz placed the back of one hand on her hip, dillydallied her fork up and down and regarded her daughter through the sapid mist.\u00a0\u201cWhen I was a girl the boys in the store where I worked was glad if they could get houseroom, let alone a banquet\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I didn\u2019t have to feed them to get them to come; and if I do say it, I had plenty of beaus too \u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aw, Maw, don\u2019t begin that; you ought to see what the other girls serve. Didn\u2019t Angie have green ice cream and green-icing cakes, and \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0you\u00a0havin\u2019\u00a0two kinds of sandwiches and gingersnaps and\u00a0rootbeer\u00a0\u2014\u00a0what more could you want?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0kickin\u2019, am I?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I always say about Charley; there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0a plainer and more unassuming boy. Mrs.\u00a0Blutenbach\u00a0was telling me as how she\u2019s got the first cross word to hear out of him. I\u2019ll bet you can go there any time and not hear him\u00a0carin\u2019\u00a0if old man\u00a0Blutenbach\u00a0takes off his shoes when he comes home from a hard day\u2019s work, or\u00a0carin\u2019\u00a0if there\u2019s a red tablecloth on when there\u2019s company for supper.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, Maw, what\u2019s the use\u00a0talkin\u2019\u00a0about Charley? Paw\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0makin\u2019\u00a0no effort to sell out and I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to marry no sausage clerk. Charley and Paw could get that Amsterdam Avenue store as easy as\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0if they\u00a0was\u00a0smart. I says to Paw, I says, `Sell at eighteen hundred if you have to,\u2019\u00a0but he stands for two thousand, like two hundred dollars was a million!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw\u2019s right; I say two thousand too! Paw and Charley are\u00a0doin\u2019\u00a0all they can\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0they advertised the store for two Sundays? I\u2019m\u00a0willin\u2019\u00a0that Paw and Charley should go in together. I\u2019m sick of this old stand; and I\u00a0always did say, for a young man to have saved up nine hundred dollars like Charley has\u00a0\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to let Charley put his money in this hole.\u00a0If Paw wants to go in with Charley,\u00a0let him sell before the fifteenth and get the Amsterdam Avenue store; a place like the Amsterdam, with a separate entrance to the flat and no green goods and uptown prices, is what I say Paw and Charley should get together on\u2014but all they do is talk!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t him and Charley have them two men that offered the eighteen hundred\u00a0lookin\u2019\u00a0at the books? But it\u2019s just like Charley said\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no use\u00a0losin\u2019\u00a0two hundred dollars till we know the reason why\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Jimmie, is that you? Jim-mie!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0voice rose like an up-scale.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2019m!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you go in the parlor with your muddy shoes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Freda\u2019s\u00a0havin\u2019\u00a0her party tonight.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie slouched down the narrow dark hall and entered the kitchen, slamming the door behind him. He printed a large and slightly soiled kiss on the rear of his mother\u2019s neck.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s\u00a0doin\u2019\u00a0tonight\u00a0\u2014\u00a0some of\u00a0them pewees from the store\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0up?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz was immediately on the defensive; she paused with a plate of sandwiches covered with a snowy napkin held aloft on one hand, and turned her dark, bright eyes upon her brother.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou just start with me, Jimmie Stutz!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTake it from me, little beauty, if your friends from the fancy soaps and the granulated sugar\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0out of here by eleven, it\u2019s me for me downy davenport just the same\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u2019m a busy man and me\u00a0noives\u00a0need rest.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my party, Jimmie Stutz; and if you or Paw begin anything I\u2019m\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to \u2014 Maw, make Jimmie quit\u00a0cuttin\u2019\u00a0up! If he comes in while I got the crowd here and starts\u00a0makin\u2019\u00a0eyes at the davenport like he did the night I had George\u00a0Schmale\u00a0up here, I\u2019ll tell Paw about his\u00a0losin\u2019\u00a0his job at the telegraph office and you\u00a0havin\u2019\u00a0to go down and beg it back\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I will!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz impaled a chop upon a fork and turned awful eyes upon her son.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just dare you!\u201d\u00a0she threatened.\u00a0\u201cI just dare you to go actin\u2019\u00a0smart round your sister\u2019s party! If I hear a word from you, young man\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if I don\u2019t tell your Paw you lost your job for\u00a0sassin\u2019\u00a0a lady you\u00a0was\u00a0deliverin\u2019\u00a0a telegram to! And your poor mother had to go down and beg you in again\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if I don\u2019t tell your Paw!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, I never said\u00a0nothin\u2019, did I?\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0a fellow got a right to get sleepy when he comes home from work at night?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe don\u2019t get sleepy when it\u2019s picture shows and\u00a0runnin\u2019\u00a0around in the streets, Maw.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u00a0wanta\u00a0sleep you can bring Paw\u2019s patent\u00a0rockin\u2019- chair out here in the kitchen and catch a nap till they go.\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0you got no respect for your sister and her lady and\u00a0genelmen\u00a0friends?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay,\u201d\u00a0cried Jimmie, subdued but scornful,\u00a0\u201cyou call them ladies and gents! I\u00a0seen\u00a0you, Missy,\u00a0passin\u2019\u00a0up Charley and walking up Broadway with that yellow haired window dresser! I\u00a0seen\u00a0you\u00a0showin\u2019\u00a0him the store, and\u00a0braggin\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0makin\u2019\u00a0eyes at him like a widow at her old beau\u2019s wife\u2019s funeral.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a pause\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a too red flush dyed Miss Stutz\u2019\u00a0cheeks; she turned burning eyes upon her brother.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie! If \u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou owe me a quarter, too, Missy. You thought I\u2019d forget\u00a0\u2014\u00a0didn\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie, go down in the store and tell your Paw supper is ready; and tell him to bring up a bar of lye soap and some lard if the new tub\u2019s come in yet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There were two wrinkles between Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0eyes and her lips quirked downward at the corners.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The quirk was not lost upon her son. He indulged in a parting shot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what he looks like to me\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that yellow headed window dresser\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you know what he looks like to me? He looks like the hole in a bad penny\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and if he comes round here much I\u2019ll give him a run for his money.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, make \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The junior Stutz fled down the long hall, however, slapping his hands along the walls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie,\u201d\u00a0called Mrs. Stutz in a voice of warning,\u00a0\u201ckeep your hands off that wall paper!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A door slammed, cutting in two Jimmie\u2019s retreating whistle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0eyes slanted upward in a squint and her forehead fell into fine wrinkles\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a Pallas Athens brow would have suffered by that squint; it gave Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0comely, warm-blooded face a fleeting semblance to the inscrutable mask of a mandarin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo!\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u201cSo!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00a0what?\u201d\u00a0repeated Miss Stutz semi defiantly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was a genteel girl and was\u00a0keepin\u2019\u00a0steady like you, and\u00a0keepin\u2019\u00a0steady with a fine young man like Charley, there wouldn\u2019t be another man\u00a0livin\u2019\u00a0who could have my\u00a0likin\u2019! When me and your Paw was \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t begin that, Maw. Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0is a new man down at the store and a fine young fellow; he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0like Charley\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he wants to get in a business of his own. He\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to be\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0but a trimmer all his life; he\u2019s got more money saved up than Charley, and he\u2019s\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0into a business of his own\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he<\/i>\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0slow!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA good steady young man like Charley\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to let Paw sell at a loss. Charley\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0like you; he\u2019s got his eyes open and thinks of something besides himself\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he wants Paw to sell for the best. When a\u00a0boy\u2019s\u00a0on the marry he can\u2019t be too careful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t you quit\u00a0fussin\u2019, Maw?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0fussin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u2019m just\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay, Maw, can\u2019t you make Paw keep his coat on tonight? It\u2019s so mortifying the way he does; and he never gets jolly and\u00a0cuttin\u2019\u00a0up with the crowd, neither, like Angie\u2019s father. Can\u2019t you tell him without\u00a0lettin\u2019\u00a0him know you are\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0him?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf your old Paw and his ways\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0good enough\u00a0fer\u00a0your crowd, coat or no coat, you\u2019d better give your parties down there at that swell Broadway store that\u2019s putting these ideas into your head! I never wanted Charley to get you that job down there,\u00a0nohow; you\u00a0was\u00a0better off downstairs in the store. If your Paw\u2019s shirtsleeves\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0good enough for them snippy girls and boys, they don\u2019t need to burn our gas and use up our houseroom.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what I mean, Maw. Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u2019s\u00a0a new member, and he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0like Charley and the rest of the boys; he\u2019s had a business of his own\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the Red-Front Delicatessen up on Ninth Avenue\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and he\u2019s just at this till he gets another opening. There\u2019s something real stylish about him.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHuh?\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust the same, Gertie let Angie see the books, and he\u2019s\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0twenty-two a week. I guess that\u2019s not bad\u00a0\u2018longside\u00a0of Charley\u2019s fifteen!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d\u00a0agreed Mrs. Stutz, placing a bowl of steaming brown-jacketed potatoes on a small laid-for-four table at one end of the kitchen\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201ctwenty-two dollars a week\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0bad money.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz was quick to catch the shift from minor to treble.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u00a0ain\u2019t, Maw,\u201d\u00a0she pursued;\u00a0\u201can\u2019\u00a0nobody can say there\u2019s anything slow about Mr.\u00a0Koolaage. He says he wouldn\u2019t work steady for a salary for nobody; and honest, Maw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0not that I care\u00a0\u2014but he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0looked at another girl in the place but me. I wish you\u2019d see Stella, in the soaps, actin\u2019\u00a0up to him; but he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0stuck on nobody down at the store.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCut some bread and put your father\u2019s big coffee cup on the table.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday he was\u00a0arrangin\u2019\u00a0a fruit display in the Broadway window and I just watched him for fun\u00a0\u2014\u00a0all the chorus girls\u00a0passin\u2019\u00a0and all; and, if I do say it, the only time he looked up at all was to look over at the cashier\u2019s cage\u00a0\u2014\u00a0real\u00a0admirin\u2019\u00a0like too.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThat don\u2019t get you\u00a0nowheres; a real refined, genteel girl is too modest and too busy\u00a0mindin\u2019\u00a0her work to see such things.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, just the same, you can tell he stands pretty well or the crowd wouldn\u2019t want him in the Four-Leafs.\u00a0Take Stella, in the soaps\u00a0\u2014\u00a0she\u2019s been\u00a0wantin\u2019\u00a0to get in too; but we won\u2019t take none except the best.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere, put the soup on the table and give Paw the big plate.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0commonlike\u00a0a bit, Maw. Now take Charley\u00a0\u2014 there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0wrong about Charley, but it does get on my nerves to see him and Paw\u00a0runnin\u2019\u00a0a race in the sword-swallowin\u2019\u00a0act.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because you\u2019re\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0shiftless, good-for-nothin\u2019\u00a0ideas in your head. Your Paw and Charley may do the sword-swallowin\u2019\u00a0act, all righty, but it\u2019s only themselves they turn their knives against. Lots of times these swells that only use their knives for\u00a0cuttin\u2019, and drink coffee with their little fingers\u00a0stickin\u2019\u00a0away from the cup, will turn the edge of their knives against you instead of themselves\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u2019m a\u00a0plain woman, I am, and I got\u00a0plain ideas.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, Maw, that\u00a0preachin\u2019\u00a0talk don\u2019t get\u00a0anywheres.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t give me none of your sass and back talk, Freda; you\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got any reason to be ashamed of your old parents.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0ashamed, Maw; but is there anything wrong in\u00a0wantin\u2019\u00a0Jimmie to keep quiet about things and not get show-offish? It\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nobody\u2019s business that we got our new table off of\u00a0tradin\u2019\u00a0stamps. Paw ought to have more manners than to slide out of his coat and shoes when there\u2019s company.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI dare either of\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0to let me catch\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0at those tricks!\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz with a sudden veer of sentiment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, Maw, when I introduce you to Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0say:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr.\u00a0Koolaage, I\u00a0wanta\u00a0introduce you to my mother!\u2019\u00a0Don\u2019t just mumble, but say it out like:\u00a0\u2018Pleased to meet you, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage. Won\u2019t you sit down?\u2019\u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew manners before you\u00a0was\u00a0born; there never was a girl with prettier ways than I had in my days. You can\u2019t learn me\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and I can say the same for your Paw; a more refined and\u00a0genteel man never went\u00a0courtin\u2019!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s Paw\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0in now.\u00a0Lemme\u00a0help you with that, Maw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw!\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Jimmie, don\u2019t come through the parlor; Freda\u2019s\u00a0havin\u2019\u00a0her party tonight\u00a0\u2014\u00a0soup\u2019s on the table.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz entered, peeling off his coat; his shirtsleeves were caught in above the elbow with red elastic bands and the black-ribbed silk back of his waistcoat was split evenly up the center.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s that lye soap and a head of cabbage that was\u00a0wiltin\u2019\u00a0in the box\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019ll be a happy day when we give up the green goods.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll make slaw tomorrow,\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda was a tender offshoot of the father\u00a0\u2014\u00a0his crinkles were her dimples; his hair, short and stubbly like a thistle when you look down at it, grew with a little V-shaped indenture off his forehead\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Miss Freda\u2019s, smooth and full of lights, sprang back with that same V-shaped indenture; her face was rounded out and soft as a plum\u00a0\u2014 her father\u2019s was of that same plum\u00a0family, but dried like a prune. He washed his hands at the sink, removed his glasses, fitted them into a leather case with a snap top and slid them into an upper vest pocket.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s my old specs, Maw?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the clock. Jimmie, give Paw his specs.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz adjusted his silver-rimmed spectacles and, rubbing three dry fingers of one hand together, regarded his daughter dubiously over their tops.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cParty!\u00a0\u2014\u00a0such nonsense like a party I got no time for! I play pinochle with Charley.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz drew up at his end of the table and tucked two ends of his napkin in his collar beneath his ears, so that it fell straight down, like a bib.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, Maw, I knew Paw would spoil my party\u00a0\u2014\u00a0how\u2019ll it\u00a0look\u00a0for him and Charley to come\u00a0sneakin\u2019\u00a0off to the kitchen to play cards? Other girls\u2019\u00a0fathers come in, and \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuch nonsense I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got no time for\u00a0\u2014\u00a0in my own house I\u2019m\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to do what I want.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got your black suit and clean shirt laid out for you, Paw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy what?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got the Club tonight and you\u00a0gotta\u00a0dress up\u2014 all the other girls\u2019\u00a0fathers do. Angie\u2019s father never misses\u00a0puttin\u2019\u00a0on his black suit and\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0in.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no!\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Stutz, breathing in his soup.\u00a0\u201cFor funerals and lodges and Sundays I wear my black suit, but for such a crowd of young ones that\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got their second teeth yet I wear no stiff shirt.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda turned agonized eyes upon her mother\u00a0\u2014 there were tears in her voice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, you\u2019re\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to wear your silk and your cameo pin\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0you? Maw\u2019s\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to dress up, Paw; you \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, and your Paw\u2019s\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to wear his black suit. Don\u2019t you start\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0with me, Gus Stutz! I got it in for you, anyway\u00a0\u2014\u00a0any man that\u2019ll lie about the lodge the way you did last week! If you\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got no regard for your daughter and her company I\u2019ll see that you get some. Tonight\u2019s one night you keep your shoes and coat on!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmy cut vigorously at his meat; he held his black handled fork upright, with his fingers clutched about it as if he were aiming a dagger at his heart; his elbows worked at sharp angles from his sides like the flapping of duck wings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGo to it, Paw! Don\u2019t let\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0put the blacks on you!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there was a to-be-reckoned-with note in Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0voice\u00a0\u2014\u201danother\u00a0word out of you and if I don\u2019t tell your Paw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if I don\u2019t tell your Paw!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t say\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0did I?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKeep your galoshes on, Bertha! Your old man\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0much on the black-suit society, but he\u2019s your best friend, all right\u2014ain\u2019t\u00a0it, Bertha?\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0he your best friend?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been that way, Freda\u00a0\u2014\u00a0your Paw\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0never done the right thing by me. I never had a chance to take it like a lady because he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got no manners and never did have. When he was\u00a0keepin\u2019\u00a0company with me it was the same way\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he never did have manners.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz stabbed, one at a time, a generous forkful of large peas.\u00a0\u201cMaw\u2019s after me tonight\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0she, Jimmie?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same way with manners at the table\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0shows up a man meaner than\u00a0eatin\u2019\u00a0with his knife or blowing his coffee cold! I always say I can tell a\u00a0genelman\u00a0by the way he uses his knife and folds his napkin in his ring.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEasy there, old lady! Keep your galoshes on!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny man that\u2019ll tell his wife he is\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to lodge, and then \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay, old lady, I came as near as shavings to\u00a0sellin\u2019\u00a0the store today.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz leaned forward in her chair.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonest, Paw?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Charley sent a fellow up to look things over; if I\u2019d\u00a0\u2018a\u2019\u00a0knocked off the two hundred I\u2019d\u00a0\u2018a\u2019\u00a0got him sure.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatta\u00a0you want to sell for, anyway, Paw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just\u00a0\u2018cause\u00a0Freda\u2019s got a hunch that she and Charley\u00a0gotta\u00a0have the whole family\u00a0taggin\u2019\u00a0on?\u201d\u00a0said Jimmie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou keep out of this, Jimmie\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you don\u2019t know anything; you don\u2019t care how the neighborhood is running down or how hard the green goods are on Paw. I guess you wouldn\u2019t like a good corner up on Amsterdam, with a separate entrance and an uptown apartment-house trade, yourself?\u201d\u00a0said Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFreda\u2019s right,\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie, go in and put on your brown suit and get your father\u2019s shaving mug\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019s in Freda\u2019s room on the table.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWatch out for my party dress, Jimmie\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019s spread out on the bed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay, I wouldn\u2019t\u00a0muss\u00a0your dress if I was\u00a0runnin\u2019\u00a0the\u00a0manglin\u2019\u00a0machine in a laundry.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, make him watch out for my dress. I pressed it last night.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie!\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The family scraped back from their little circle, the table was cleared, spread with a fringe-edged blue-and-red worsted cover and pushed back into its corner. A pregnant quiet fell over the little flat, relieved a bit by Jimmie\u2019s whistling in the bedroom as he tugged with his collar.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz, in a carpet-upholstered rocker beside the stove, perused his newspaper over the tops of his glasses. When Mr. Stutz read his lips moved silently, and he was fond of following the printed line with his\u00a0spatulate\u00a0finger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A line of drying clothes, stretched across the narrow ledge of the rear porch, snapped and slapped in a sharp early April wind, and a limp white sleeve batted against the windowpane.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for this party,\u201d\u00a0observed Mrs. Stutz,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019d\u00a0\u2018a\u2019\u00a0got to the\u00a0ironin\u2019\u00a0today.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie, shiny-haired and tall-collared, emerged from the business of ablutions. His cheeks were the rubbed-red of the show apples on a vender\u2019s cart, and the hair that grew on his head like stubble was plentifully watered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFix my tie, Maw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz dried her moist, pink hands and jerked her son\u2019s chin sharply upward.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHold still!\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOuch!\u201d\u00a0complained Jimmie suddenly;\u00a0\u201cyou make my collar pinch in the middle!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz patted the bow into place and turned toward her husband; there was an undercurrent of challenge in her voice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGus, I got your buttons in your shirt. Come on!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz rattled his newspaper, opened his mouth to speak, pushed his glasses up on his nose and again opened his mouth to speak.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBertha,\u201d\u00a0he began,\u00a0\u201c\u00a0I\u2014\u00a0I \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then on second thought he ambled out of his chair, refolded his glasses and disappeared in the direction of the bedroom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour mug\u2019s on the table,\u201d\u00a0called Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGimme\u00a0one of them collars with a soft edge,\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Stutz with a rasp in his voice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At eight o\u2019clock Miss Stutz\u2019\u00a0guests began to arrive; she met them at the door, animated with smiles and dimples, and full of the gracious responsibility of the hostess.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome right in!\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0them steps the limit of a climb! Hello yourself, Heine! Angie, go right in the other room and lay your things on the bed;\u00a0Maw\u2019ll\u00a0help you. Here, you boys! Aw, Otto, quit your\u00a0kiddin\u2019! Here, boys, just put your hats and overcoats out here on this chair\u00a0\u2014\u00a0are you acquainted with my father? Heine, this is Paw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz came forward without enthusiasm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSit down,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie hedged about, jangling keys and coins in his pockets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho won today, Otto?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhite Sox!\u201d\u00a0replied Mr. Tobin, straddling the piano stool and plucking out a tune with one finger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Tobin was short and his feet dangled; he wound them about the legs of the stool and fumbled vainly for a harmonious descent from middle C sharp.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More guests; the blather of voices and laughter rose. Young ladies with their heads wrapped in gay-colored scarves disappeared between the red portieres, placed their wraps across the bed and preened before the bureau.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz hovered in amiable expectancy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s powder in that glass dish, girls, and pins on the cushion. Make\u00a0yourselfs\u00a0right at home. My, don\u2019t you girls look sweet, though! Right there\u2019s the comb, Lulu. Angie, my Freda\u2019s always\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0me what a trim little figure you got! It\u2019s just like Charley was\u00a0sayin\u2019\u00a0the other night after him and Freda came home from the picture-show party\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019s hard to find a prettier set of girls than work at Mark & Silver\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Mrs. Stutz!\u201d\u00a0Miss Angie\u00a0Weincoop\u00a0posed before the mirror and perked at her blouse.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got such a swell figure now\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you ought to\u00a0seen\u00a0me last year when I was in the canned goods\u00a0\u2014\u00a0up and down the ladder kept me as thin as a straw. I didn\u2019t have a sign of hips.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always say to Freda I like to see the girls with a little flesh on their bones. Why, when I was a girl I was real plump and healthy\u00a0lookin\u2019; and, if I do say it, Mr. Stutz knew what good looks were.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss\u00a0Weincoop\u00a0powdered carefully at the sides of her nose and ran a careful forefinger along each eyebrow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the new styles are hipless,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me fix that for you, Lulu. My,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0that a sweet waist, though! My boy Jimmie had a dress trimmed in that kind of lace when he was a baby. I got it saved along with a little pair of red shoes and Freda\u2019s rattle. Now just make\u00a0yourselfs\u00a0at home, girls. Yes, Freda, I\u2019m\u00a0comin\u2019!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the front room the young men were grouped about in various postures and degrees of ease. Mr. Charley\u00a0Blutenbach, with the freedom that his close family intimacy warranted, was amusing the group by setting the head of the brown-stuff dog wagging and by barking in\u00a0ventriloquial\u00a0fashion under his breath.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way Old Man Mark barks when the sales go down!\u201d\u00a0he cried.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda admonished him gently.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, Charley, quit\u00a0your\u00a0foolin\u2019!\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0he the silly one! Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, you\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0met Maw, have you? I want to make you acquainted. Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u2019s\u00a0the new window dresser and a new member of the\u00a0FourLeafs\u00a0I been\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0you about, Maw.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0rose from the chair; he was pink-cheeked and blond\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the sort of Viking who inhabits Third Avenue between the forties.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His hay-colored mustache was clipped so short it resembled in texture a close-nap doormat, and his eyes were bluer than\u00a0haytime\u00a0skies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard Miss Freda talk about her mamma a great deal.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t say so!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWon\u2019t you sit down here on the sofa, Mrs. Stutz?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMuch obliged!\u201d\u00a0Mrs. Stutz sat down stiffly; her silk dress rose about her like a balloon in process of inflation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0seated himself beside her and tugged at his trouser knees until he revealed the delicate cream of his hose above the tan shoes; the V of his waistcoat, displaying a striped shirt and a knit cravat, was piped with a tiny edge of white silk braid, after the fashion of floorwalkers and gentlemen who sit in club-windows overlooking the Avenue.\u00a0\u201cGreat weather,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0it?\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, hitching at his trouser knees again until the up-and-down ribbing of the cream-colored hose showed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is that,\u201d\u00a0agreed Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The young people buzzed about them. Charley and Mr. Stutz, in close-headed discussion, sought out two chairs just beyond the red portieres; young ladies were scattered about the bright-lighted parlor in witching attitudes. Miss Freda, the white lace yoke of her dark red dress fluffy about her soft neck, twined her arms about the trim waist of Miss Angie\u00a0Weincoop, and the two of them laughed and twittered with Mr. Otto Tobin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Freda is certainly one nice girl,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0by way of conversation\u00a0\u2014\u00a0his eyes wandered in the direction of the small figure perched on the red-plush arm of a chair.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFreda is a good girl, if I do say so myself,\u201d\u00a0agreed Mrs. Stutz, smoothing the silk lap.\u00a0\u201cShe\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0never give us a minute\u2019s worry. I can say the same for my boy Jimmie too. I\u2019ve seen worse children than mine.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe sure is some little cashier!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know it is just born in that girl to work. I don\u2019t want to brag on my children; but there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no reason for Freda to work\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a grand, steady boy like Charley\u00a0waitin\u2019\u00a0for her and all!\u201d\u00a0Mrs. Stutz shot a glance at Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0out of the tail of her eye.\u00a0\u201cA grand, steady boy like Charley\u00a0waitin\u2019\u00a0for her!\u201d\u00a0she repeated.\u00a0\u201cBut, even before her and Charley got to\u00a0keepin\u2019\u00a0steady, it\u2019s just like I always used to think\u00a0\u2014\u00a0we got a little grocery downstairs that\u2019s\u00a0payin\u2019\u00a0good; and I always say to Freda, I\u2019d say:\u00a0\u2018You don\u2019t have to work\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you can stay at home and help with the house, and if you want to you can go in the store mornings while Paw\u2019s at market; but you don\u2019t have to work downtown.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got a friend like that\u00a0\u2014\u00a0she likes to work and work.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, and Freda up and says:\u00a0\u2018Maw, it\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0like I\u00a0gotta\u00a0work; but the\u00a0pinmoney\u00a0comes in real handy.\u2019\u00a0And so she worried at Charley till he got her this place down at the store\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019s a real fine place for her to be in, and such nice girls and boys; but I always say I get real mixed up\u00a0wonderin\u2019\u00a0if I\u2019m in a drug store or a grocery.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great institution,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u201cI was with\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0five years ago before I went into the delicatessen business. I\u2019m just back\u00a0doin\u2019\u00a0window\u00a0dressin\u2019\u00a0temporary, since I sold out\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just for the time\u00a0bein\u2019, you know.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, well; but I guess there\u2019s big money in window\u00a0dressin\u2019\u00a0at that\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0there?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0waved a deprecatory hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0never big money in a salary, Mrs. Stutz. I\u2019m the kind that believes in\u00a0havin\u2019 his own stand\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if it\u2019s only a news-stand!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just\u00a0what Paw always used to say\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he was\u00a0workin\u2019\u00a0in a\u00a0shippin\u2019\u00a0room before we got enough saved for our start; but, like you say, we didn\u2019t mind it after we got into our little business, even if it was a pull uphill.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure, you didn\u2019t; that\u2019s how I always feel\u00a0\u2014\u00a0window\u00a0trimmin\u2019\u00a0is all right for the other fellow, but not for me. I just sold out the Red Front\u00a0\u2018cause\u00a0a good chance came\u00a0along\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but Mark & Silver\u2019s a pretty nice place to work; there\u2019s where you catch the swell trade.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get down that way much; but I love to pass Mark & Silver\u2019s window, with the cologne and hairbrushes, and prunes as big as your hand, in one window, and fancy wrapped soap and sponges in the other.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis Club is a fine little idea\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0it?\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is that,\u201d\u00a0agreed Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u201cCharley and Freda got it up themselves. I always say it keeps the boys and girls from dances and things like that. I tell my boy Jimmie there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0so\u00a0degeneratin\u2019\u00a0in my mind as girls and boys\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0round to these pay dances. Freda always says she\u2019d rather have the crowd and refreshments at home, even if there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no room for\u00a0dancin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a nice little flat you got up here, Mrs. Stutz. I always did think Eighth Avenue was good for retail, and this certainly is a real nice flat; you\u2019re like a friend of mine\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you like bright-colored wall paper.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen better and I\u2019ve seen worse. Freda don\u2019t like it because it\u2019s all stores round here and\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got electric light and them fancy things\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but I\u2019ve raised two children right here, and it\u2019s a good, steady little stand; and I always say what\u2019s good enough for me has got to be good enough for them. But Freda\u2019s got the idea that she wants to go farther uptown, and I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0sayin\u2019\u00a0what might happen\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that girl can just wrap her Paw round her little finger!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0always the nickel-plated, fancy stores that make the most money, Mrs. Stutz.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I always say\u00a0\u2014\u00a0right here we\u2019re\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0more and more book trade; and\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0counts in the grocery business in my mind like book trade. Let a woman come in with her book\u00a0instead of her pocketbook, and she won\u2019t argue for six bars for a quarter and she\u2019ll buy butter where she had only thought of lard.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0over some night and give you a swell soap window that\u2019s a favorite of mine if you\u2019ll want it\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just plain stock soaps and red tissue will do it. I\u2019ll be real pleased to fix it for you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0you kind-hearted, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage! But we couldn\u2019t ask your time; we\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0much on the window except for canned goods, and then Freda does it odd evenings\u00a0\u2014\u00a0she\u2019s real tasty.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA good window never hurts any business,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0epigrammatically.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda, airy as a fairy, drifted toward the divan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you two\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0secrets about?\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0it awful the way Paw and Charley go\u00a0sneakin\u2019\u00a0off! Can\u2019t you make\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0come in and be sociable, Maw? I\u2019ll sit here with Mr.\u00a0Koolaage. And there\u2019s\u00a0another, pair of sneaking ones! Oh, Angie,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0you and Heine ashamed! I see you\u00a0sittin\u2019\u00a0out there in the hall. Come in and give us all a chance.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Loud laughter, and the guilty pair in the hall peeked in red faces and disappeared into the gloom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay, Angie,\u201d\u00a0called Otto Tobin,\u00a0\u201cwhy don\u2019t you come in and give us a song?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This suggestion was greeted with enthusiasm, and the reluctant Angie was dragged into the room and crowded down upon the piano stool.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay,\u201d\u00a0she protested,\u00a0\u201cI can\u2019t play a thing without my music\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and I got an awful sore throat.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heine hovered over her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlay\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0it Fun to be in Love!\u201d\u00a0he urged.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHeine, behave!\u201d\u00a0she admonished, coloring and striking a random chord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGo wan an\u2019 play it!\u201d\u00a0he urged.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0played that for months,\u201d\u00a0she flipped at him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, go on an\u2019\u00a0play something!\u201d\u00a0urged Jimmie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After preliminaries, swinging the stool now higher, now lower, spreading of skirts and trilling little scales up toward the top of the piano, Miss Angie began.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company sat about the room pleasantly attentive; Jimmie\u2019s eyes were shining and his lips pursed in a whistle as she played Oh You Great Big Beautiful Doll.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGee!\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cYou ought to hear one of the operators down at our office whistle that! She sure is some little whistler!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0placed a hand on each knee and sat staring as if inspired at the wings of the bisque angel; the low drone of Mr. Stutz and Charley penetrated through the portieres.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda gesticulated frantically to her brother.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTell Paw and Charley to hush!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie thrust his head through the portieres.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSh-h-h-h-h!\u201d\u00a0he hissed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The drone continued.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Angie sang with fervor. Heine draped himself over the lower end of the piano and followed the rapid, twinkling fingers with sentimental eyes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the song was greeted with applause.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow play Rings on Her Fingers and Bells on Her Toes!\u201d\u00a0cried Jimmie.\u00a0\u201cGee! I love that! Go on an\u2019\u00a0play it, Angie.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The little company crowded about the piano and joined in the chorus with whistles and\u00a0tra-la-las\u00a0\u2014\u00a0only Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0and Freda remained aloof on the divan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love music\u00a0\u2014\u00a0don\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0said Miss Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI sure do!\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, not taking his eyes from her face.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCharley can play the flute like anything,\u201d\u00a0remarked Miss Stutz.\u00a0\u201cI hope he brought it along. He used to play a lot at our sodality meetings.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0your Maw I\u2019m\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0over some night and dress you a soap window, and I\u2019ll bring my jew\u2019s-harp along. Lizzie says it sounds like real music.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll be swell!\u201d\u00a0agreed Miss Stutz.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0drew apart the lace curtains and stared into the street below, at the rows of bright-lighted small shops across the street and the surge of pedestrians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a busy part of town\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0it, Miss Freda?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBusy! Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, it may not be swell, but for good steady little stands it can\u2019t be beat. Paw always says, even if he quits this for a larger store in a\u00a0sweller\u00a0part, he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0sure he\u2019ll do as well as he can right here.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0another greengrocery on the block, neither\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always say, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, it\u2019s the only block in New York that can boast of haven\u2019\u00a0only one grocery and two delicatessens. They been\u00a0tryin\u2019\u00a0to get in\u00a0Schlage\u2019s\u00a0hardware store next door for two years, but old man\u00a0Schlage\u00a0won\u2019t think of\u00a0sellin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0many girls got\u00a0thinkin\u2019\u00a0heads on\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0like you, Miss Freda.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He regarded her with intent, interested eyes. A tint of excitement, faint as the first pink of dawn, crept into Miss Freda\u2019s face; the string of large pearl beads at her throat rose and fell.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw always says I got a man\u2019s head for business,\u201d\u00a0she admitted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They receded farther into the recesses of the divan; half of the lace curtain draped itself over Miss Freda\u2019s head and shoulders, screening her from the room; their conversation was low and intimate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group at the piano sang fortissimo and with verve; every street musical hit of the hour had its moment. Mrs. Stutz sat on the right of the piano beside Miss Lulu\u00a0Ruttermann, a young woman slightly past her first flush, and regarded the young people with a smile on her lips.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw,\u201d\u00a0she called during a short interval between songs,\u00a0\u201cyou and Charley quit\u00a0talkin\u2019\u00a0business\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Charley\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0here for that; he\u2019s here to have a good time. Charley, you brought your flute along; bring it in and play for the boys and girls.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley, carrying his small black leather case with the nickel-plated mountings, was greeted with acclaim. When he played his cheeks swelled outward until they were as tight as the vellum on a snare-drum.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Charley, that was fine! Now play the Flower Song,\u201d\u00a0urged Miss Angie, who had once recited the Rosary to music.\u00a0\u201cI could just cry when I hear that! Play the Flower Song, Charley.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d\u00a0he agreed, smiling with every feature.\u00a0\u201cWhere\u2019s Freda? She can accompany me swell on that.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, you Freda!\u201d\u00a0sang Heine.\u00a0\u201cCome out from behind the curtain there and give us a tune.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freda and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0were well back in the window embrasure now, however, the lace curtain draping them like an ephod of mystery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFreda!\u201d\u00a0called Charley, with that intangible quality of voice that runs like a silver thread in the tones of those who love.\u00a0\u201cCome on and play for me. I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0set eyes on you tonight!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda peeped bright eyes round the edge of the curtain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t you leave me alone for a minute, Charley? Let Angie play \u2014 I\u2019m busy!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The curtain fell and Miss Freda receded into her corner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley blinked his eyes rapidly; his wide, smiling face was frankly stunned into stolidity\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the mere physical smile remained, with the essence gone from it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the kitchen came the prophetic clattering of dishes, the querulous drone of Mrs. Stutz and the defensive retorts of her husband; a snicker came from behind the lace curtain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Angie struck a lower chord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, Charley, let\u2019s play the Polka Glide.\u201d\u00a0The company laughed a pitch too high; Charley fitted the shining mouthpiece to his lips with too much red-faced alacrity, and they started off in two distinctly different keys.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, gee!\u201d\u00a0cried Miss Angie.\u00a0\u201cI just love to accompany you, Charley\u2014you play with so much feeling!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got much feeling outside my fingertips,\u201d\u00a0said Charley by way of repartee, but his tones were flat, like the ring of a bell with the clapper muffled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The clatter and rattle from the kitchen grew; Jimmie wound his way in and out among the chairs and guests, distributing three-cornered fringed napkins into each lap. Next appeared Mrs. Stutz, carrying\u00a0aloft a round tray of tumblers filled with a dark red liquid, which swayed in the glasses and in some cases slopped over the sides on to the white tray cover. Three young men sprang to her assistance and Miss Freda emerged from her corner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, Maw,\u201d\u00a0she said,\u00a0\u201cthe evening slipped round so I didn\u2019t know it was time for refreshments. Why didn\u2019t you let me help you? Jimmie, pass Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0some of them ham and cheese sandwiches. Lulu, you\u2019d better taste that\u00a0rootbeer\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Maw made it herself.\u201d\u00a0The guests spread themselves in a circle, fringed napkins open on their laps and plates carefully poised thereon.\u00a0\u201cNow, girls and boys, don\u2019t be bashful\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there\u2019s plenty more sandwiches in the kitchen. Jimmie, you go out and get some more; and Charley\u00a0\u2014 you\u2019re at home here\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you pass Otto and Gertie some gingersnaps.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heine poised a sandwich in each hand and ate alternately at them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay!\u201d\u00a0he cried.\u00a0\u201cIf I don\u2019t report down at the store Monday on time you can tell old Mark it was Freda\u2019s sandwiches did it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From his place on the divan Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0laughed and took a drink of the red liquid.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMonday\u2019s my window day too\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if I take much more of Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0delicious\u00a0rootbeer\u00a0there won\u2019t be no flag window.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage,\u201d\u00a0spoke up Miss Gertrude, a young woman whose timidity forbade her venturing into conversational wilds,\u00a0\u201cyour windows are so elegant\u00a0lookin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that California fruit window last week was just lovely!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think so too,\u201d\u00a0amended Miss Stutz. A dove might have cooed to its mate in that same tone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz remained in the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches and his newspaper. Mrs. Stutz nudged her son:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie, tell Paw to come in here and sit down.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, you\u00a0lemme\u00a0alone!\u201d\u00a0complained Jimmie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s play a game,\u201d\u00a0cried Miss Stutz, assuming the initiative of the hostess.\u00a0\u201c\u00a0I\u00a0got two prizes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a first and a booby. Somebody choose a game.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with Post-Office?\u201d\u00a0volunteered Heine, beaming across at\u00a0Angie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNix on Post-Office,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Angie, challenging Heine with a glance.\u00a0\u201cPost-Office\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no fun anymore.\u201d\u00a0\u201cI know a new game,\u201d\u00a0volunteered Mr. Otto Tobin.\u00a0\u201cWhoever makes the worst face gets a prize.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Angie nodded her yellow curls and set them all a-bobbing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d she said, \u201cI bet I get the booty!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The circle drew their chairs closer, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0and Miss Stutz pushing their divan in unison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I count six everybody\u00a0make\u00a0a face!\u201d cried Mr. Tobin, assuming direction. \u201cMe and Mrs.\u00a0Stutz\u2019ll\u00a0be the judges.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He began with a well-timed pause between each count: The company attempted various facial contortions calculated to inspire supremacy, the young women assuming gyration and distortion of features, only to destroy the combination by breaking into irrepressible giggles. Miss Freda gracefully conceded the field of competition to her guests and withdrew from the ranks with a slight grimace. Charley eyed Miss Stutz and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0with drooping lips and sagging chin\u00a0\u2014\u00a0hurt and bewilderment were written across his face.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFour\u00a0\u2014\u00a0five\u00a0\u2014\u00a0six!\u201d\u00a0counted Otto. The faces held their gargoyle expressions for a moment and the judges conferred\u00a0quickly together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCharley gets the prize!\u201d announced Mr. Tobin. A shout went round and Charley glanced up amazed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMake the face again, Charley\u00a0\u2014\u00a0we didn\u2019t see it,\u201d\u00a0urged the company.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMake what?\u201d\u00a0inquired the bewildered Charley.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, make the face again, Charley\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there won\u2019t be no fun if we can\u2019t see it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat face?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe game, silly\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the game.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the joke?\u201d inquired Charley in some disgust. \u201cI didn\u2019t know you was\u00a0playin\u2019 a game. What game?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda handed him a small package.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou get the prize, Charley!\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley, after his first bewilderment at receiving the prize, ripped open the paper.\u00a0\u201cGee!\u201d\u00a0he cried.\u00a0\u201cI guess they\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0swell\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a pair of red silk socks!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The guests crowded about him with polite\u00a0Ohs! and\u00a0Ahs!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re swell, Freda; and I sure do like red. I\u00a0seen\u00a0some just like these in Rudd\u2019s, on Broadway.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, cut it out!\u201d\u00a0sang Jimmie from the piano, where he picked at a tune.\u00a0\u201cI was with her when she bought\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0\u2014\u00a0forty-nine per at Tracy\u2019s, mercerized and guaranteed to look like silk.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, call Jimmie!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, look!\u201d\u00a0trilled Miss Angie.\u00a0\u201cI got the booby\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0it a cute little bottle! I never was one to make ugly faces. I just love Little Fairy\u00a0Cologne!\u00a0Here, smell! Quit that, Heine!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are sure swell reds, Freda,\u201d\u00a0said Charley.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad you like\u00a0\u2018em,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Freda with indifference. She resumed her place beside Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The evening waned, the voices became softer and the sing of the four\u00a0bright burning\u00a0gas-jets louder. Mrs. Stutz and Charley found chairs side by side.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0it awful, Charley\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Paw out there in the kitchen!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet him sleep; he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got no use for this society business.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw was\u00a0sayin\u2019\u00a0that he could have sold today\u00a0fer\u00a0eighteen hundred\u00a0\u2014\u00a0easy time, Charley.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d\u00a0said Charley, his gaze wandering.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess you\u2019re right, though,\u00a0wantin\u2019\u00a0to hold out\u00a0fer\u00a0two thousand; but Freda she gets kind of\u00a0impatient like\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a lively girl like her wants everything done at once.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we\u2019re\u00a0tryin\u2019\u00a0to sell for\u00a0nothin\u2019. What if, after we find a buyer and I quit my job and we land the uptown store, Freda\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to want me?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStuff!\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz, a shade of uneasiness in her voice.\u00a0\u201cShe\u2019s a good, steady girl. A woman\u2019s a woman and likes to play up sometimes. When I was a girl there was many a time I had Paw where he didn\u2019t know where he was at\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but I was only\u00a0playin\u2019\u00a0with him all the time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so strong for Freda I guess it don\u2019t take much to make me sore; but, gee! a fellow can\u2019t stand for everything!\u201d\u00a0said Charley, the tail of his eye on the divan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Paw put a lot of store by you, Charley. I always tell Freda she\u2019s a lucky girl to be\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0a fine, steady boy like you\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a boy that\u2019s got respect for us, and\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0too wild to stay at home and play\u00a0pinochle\u00a0with Paw of an evening.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGee!\u201d\u00a0said Charley stoutly.\u00a0\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0I like\u00a0better\u2019n\u00a0a game with the old man, even if he does cheat.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Charley,\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz with playful voice and gentle eyes,\u00a0\u201cain\u2019t\u00a0I seen you\u00a0playin\u2019\u00a0cards to please Paw when you couldn\u2019t keep your eyes off Freda\u00a0sittin\u2019\u00a0at the piano? You\u2019re the greatest boy for\u00a0bein\u2019\u00a0good-hearted!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0such a bad penny!\u201d\u00a0said Charley.\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ve just\u00a0gotta\u00a0know him\u00a0\u2014 that\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz, a tentacle of wrath flashing in her eyes;\u00a0\u201cbut\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0his manners shameful?\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0him and Freda acted shameful this\u00a0evenin\u2019?\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Freda at her own party too!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Heine,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Angie, arching her neck and tilting her small chin,\u00a0\u201cif there\u2019s\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to be any\u00a0gelatine\u00a0sold Monday it looks to me like I got to be\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0in my beauty sleep.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, any time you need beauty sleep!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHeine, if you don\u2019t quit your\u00a0jollyin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u201d\u00a0Miss Angie left unsaid the extent of her threat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I\u2019d better be\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0too,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Gertie, rising from her chair and gazing timidly at her escort.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your hurry?\u201d\u00a0protested Miss Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Angie rose and the guests with her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s high time we\u00a0was\u00a0goin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The girls filed into the bedroom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to bother\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0with us, Mrs. Stutz\u00a0\u2014\u00a0we can find our things,\u201d\u00a0remonstrated Miss Gertrude.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I\u2019ll come along,\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz by way of raillery\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m afraid you girls might take something!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They passed through the portieres in smiling file and reappeared in scarves and cloaks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a grand time, Freda, and thanks for the booby. Good night, dearie \u2014 I\u2019ll see you at the store Monday,\u201d\u00a0said Angie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The various guests expressed various appreciations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Good night, Freda,\u201d\u00a0Mr. Otto Tobin extended a hand and as Miss Freda was about to take it withdrew it sharply.\u00a0\u201cGive it to\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0savin\u2019\u00a0handshakes!\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Tobin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group shouted with laughter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Otto,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0you always the life of the crowd though!\u201d\u00a0gasped Miss Lulu.\u00a0\u201cYou sure have been the cut-up tonight!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Mrs. Stutz.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood\u00a0n\u2019ght,\u00a0Gertie. Give my love to your mamma.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley wriggled into his coat and crammed the tissue-paper-wrapped\u00a0package into a deep side-pocket.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Freda!\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0you\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0with me tomorrow to\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Charley! Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, if you\u2019ll wait a minute after the others I\u2019ll finish what I was\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0you about,\u201d\u00a0said Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure!\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group gathered on the dim-lit landing, repeated their adieus and clattered down three flights of stairs\u00a0\u2014\u00a0only Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0and Freda remained at the top.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back from the lower hall, Charley could see their faces outlined by the bead of gaslight; their heads were bright and surrounded with light like Scripture pictures; and on their faces an\u00a0expression that sent Charley to bed with a sensation as if a boulder attached to a string were anchored to his heart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For fifteen minutes Miss Freda and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0remained on the landing in low-voiced conversation; the door to the Stutz apartment opened and closed significantly, and twice Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0made a feint to leave. When he finally departed he held\u00a0Miss Freda\u2019s lingeringly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSee you Monday, Miss Freda.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMonday, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage,\u201d\u00a0she repeated so softly that her voice was muffled in a whisper.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Stutz parlor but one of the four gas-jets\u00a0remained burning; the chairs were set back in place and Mrs. Stutz was engaged in making up her son\u2019s davenport bed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was just\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0ready to call you in, Missy. In my day a girl didn\u2019t take on like that when she was\u00a0keepin\u2019\u00a0steady. You ought to be ashamed\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the way you acted tonight!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda jerked open her dress halfway down the back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t begin, Maw. You always do\u00a0spoil\u00a0things for me by\u00a0beginnin\u2019! I didn\u2019t\u00a0do\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0I wouldn\u2019t do again.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t, didn\u2019t you? You didn\u2019t hurt Charley\u2019s\u00a0feelin\u2019s\u00a0and humiliate him by\u00a0carryin\u2019\u00a0on with that window dresser\u00a0\u2014 you didn\u2019t hurt the\u00a0feelin\u2019s\u00a0of a boy that would jump into the harbor for you!\u201d\u00a0Mrs. Stutz patted a pillow into place and turned a warm, indignant face toward her daughter.\u00a0\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no good ever comes from actin\u2019\u00a0like\u00a0that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie without coat or collar entered from the kitchen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw! I\u00a0seen\u00a0you, Missy!\u201d\u00a0pointing a finger of scorn at his sister.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0seen\u00a0you, Missy!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, make Jimmie quit\u00a0buttin\u2019\u00a0in! I wish you could have seen him\u00a0cuttin\u2019\u00a0up tonight\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he was squinting at Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0and me; and I was so mortified I nearly died, him\u00a0doin\u2019\u00a0that and Paw\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to bed while they\u00a0was\u00a0here.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0a finer boy than Charley, and he\u2019ll be your friend when a dandy like this\u00a0Koolaage\u2019s\u00a0gone and forgotten. It\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0always the looks and the money that comes out first.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u00a0was a\u00a0snide-lookin\u2019\u00a0dress that Angie wore tonight, wasn\u2019t it? That\u2019s the kind I was\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0you I seen at Bloom\u2019s\u00a0fer\u00a0three-ninety-eight,\u201d\u00a0said Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always say girls\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0like they used to be. Girls are so empty-headed nowadays\u00a0\u2014\u00a0all that gets\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0is flashy\u00a0dressin\u2019\u00a0and big talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw, Maw,\u00a0lemme\u00a0alone!\u00a0I guess I know what I\u2019m\u00a0doin\u2019!\u00a0I didn\u2019t do\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0to Charley.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you\u00a0gimme\u00a0none of your back talk, Freda! I\u2019ll talk the way I want to. Jimmie, take your feet off that\u00a0chair!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie waggled his head and made a queer noise in his throat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI told you she was strong for the window dresser\u00a0\u2014\u00a0didn\u2019t I, Maw? I can read her as easy as I can read a telegram through the envelope.\u00a0Gee! \u2014\u00a0strong for a fellow that shoots his handkerchief up his cuff and don\u2019t know the difference between the White Sox and the Red Sox!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, make Jimmie quit!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie, we\u2019re\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0out of here; and you go to bed, and don\u2019t let me have to call you twice in the\u00a0mornin\u2019\u00a0or I\u2019ll sure tell Paw how you sassed a\u00a0lady!\u00a0Come on out, Freda; we\u2019ll do the dishes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, it\u2019s after twelve\u00a0\u2014\u00a0let\u2019s let\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0go and let\u2019s get up early.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI never have left dishes\u00a0overnight\u00a0and I\u2019m not\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to begin now. It\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0too late for you to stand out in the hall and give the neighbors something to talk about, is it? It may be the style with you and your stylish friends to leave the dishes stand over night, but I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0one of them. I\u2019m a plain woman that\u2019s had to work hard all her life\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u00a0am!\u00a0Give me that cup towel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere, I\u2019ll dry those glasses,\u201d\u00a0said Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I see any more of your\u00a0cuttin\u2019\u00a0up I\u2019ll tell Paw, sure! Here\u2019s him and Charley\u00a0tryin\u2019\u00a0to sell, all to satisfy you, and you \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShall I save these cakes?\u201d\u00a0\u201cYes; put\u00a0\u2018em\u00a0in the cupboard and dry these plates.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think my red dress looked\u00a0real\u00a0good tonight\u00a0\u2014\u00a0don\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always say it\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0the looks that count\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Charley\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0what I\u2019d call right handsome, but a better boy never drew breath.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s away now,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0it? Good night, Maw!\u201d\u00a0Miss Freda bent and kissed her mother lightly on the cheek.\u00a0\u201cGood night, Maw!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz placed her arm timidly up about her daughter\u2019s neck.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been a good girl, Freda. Don\u2019t go getting ideas in your head that can\u2019t bring no good!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Maw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Freda.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda sought out her little corner of a room. In her coarse white\u00a0night robe, her firm white shoulders half bare and her neck with the soft curves of\u00a0her throat rising and falling, she sat on the edge of the bed, braiding a whorl of shining brown hair over one shoulder and staring round-eyed before her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There were various modest necessities on her dresser\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a hairbrush with a yellow wood back, a shoe buttoner with a corresponding yellow wood handle, and a gold-and-blue-and-white china powder dish on a lace mat.\u00a0A small bunch of artificial cherries was impaled by a pin in one\u00a0corner of the mirror, and in an opposite corner a flashlight photograph of Charley, taken indoors, showed him white-eyed against a lace-curtain background.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freda regarded that corner of the mirror with soft, unseeing eyes; then she turned out the gas and crept into bed, with her heart thumping unevenly and little thuds of excitement skipping up and down her spine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark & Silver, fancy grocers,\u00a0fruiterers, importers, occupied sixty-nine by sixty-nine of the most expensive feet on Broadway.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark & Silver\u2019s store was faced in plate glass\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the expensive, heavy, beveled kind, which reflected a\u00a0high-class\u00a0interior and the tilt of ladies\u2019\u00a0bonnets as they passed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Within this shining emporium, Miss Freda Stutz, in a brass-barred cage between the crystallized fruits and the fancy soaps, and directly opposite the imported sausages, clicked her cash register and distributed smiles and change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A tropical or musical-comedy queen might have envied her the setting. When she turned her head ever so slightly a shining wall of fruits, carefully polished and matched, ran two-thirds of the width of the store in a brilliant phalanx and banked up in solid tiers of Mark & Silver\u2019s carefully selected. For uniform excellence and quality, Mark & Silver might have contracted with Ceres for her choicest delicacies, except that the long rows of violent-cheeked apples, sleek pomegranates, limes, fresh figs, alligator pears, strawberries born out of time, and opaque hothouse grapes bore the label of various territories lying between Ohio and California.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From across the aisle a bouquet of odors made up of lily-of-the-valley perfume and complexion soaps mingled with deep, aromatic whiffs of Mocha and Java. To the immediate right of the entrance Miss Angie\u00a0Weincoop, in a perky black alpaca apron and black alpaca\u00a0sleevelets, presided at a small table behind fanciful mounds of pink, green, yellow and topaz\u00a0gelatine\u00a0\u2014\u00a0her voice, ingratiating as a beggar\u2019s who pleads in the name of Allah, invited the passing public to her gelatinous lair:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething new in\u00a0gelatine\u00a0today, madam? A delightful and inexpensive dessert\u00a0\u2014\u00a0fifteen cents a small package; twenty-five cents the large size. Directions within. Add a cup of boiling water to each teaspoonful; sweeten to taste; add fruit; place molds on ice and serve\u00a0\u2014\u00a0delicious and simple dessert!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Behind the\u00a0pale de foie\u00a0<\/i>gras<\/i>, imported\u00a0cervelat\u00a0and Berlin\u00a0Bockwurst\u00a0Mr. Charley\u00a0Blutenbach, in a coat as white and stiff and immaculate as a dentist\u2019s or a Pullman car porter\u2019s, sharpened his gleaming knives and arranged them in a row. His weighing scale of polished brass, with a porcelain plate and an indicator that faced the purchaser, hovered round the two-pound mark. Charley, a slab of spiced sausage held aloft, added it lightly to the delicate bits on the porcelain dish, and the indicator settled comfortably at two. Next he removed the glass dome from a mound of Brie cheese, cut out a neat section the shape of an arc of pie, wrapped it in oiled tissue paper and tossed it, along with the spiced sausage, into a large wicker delivery basket.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley\u2019s special pride was his cheese display\u00a0\u2014\u00a0his Camembert was always at the ripe and ready stage when it oozed soft, creamy rivulets; his Swiss cheese sweated tiny beads of oil; and his yellow American cheese, with a hard white rind, was so firm that when he cut it he was obliged to bring the pressure of one hand to bear on the handle of his knife and the other on the heavy blade near the point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If Epicurus had strolled through Mark &\u00a0Silver\u2019s,\u00a0it is probable he would have lingered longest at the delicatessen counter and before the tiers of shining fruit. It is also probable he might have paused for a moment before the brassbound cashier cage, wherein Miss Stutz perched on her obelisk stool like a perky little hummingbird that knows the doors of its cage are not barred.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz smiled across at the sausages, jangled two bracelets back off her wrist, and flashed up a sign on the front of her cash register for one dollar and ninety cents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that dame was buying out the canned goods\u00a0\u2014\u00a0them dollar-ninety orders always make a noise like they\u00a0was\u00a0buyin\u2019\u00a0for Mrs. Waldorf Astoria.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0it so?\u201d\u00a0agreed Miss Angie.\u00a0\u201cAnd look at the walk of her, would you? Maybe if she\u2019d lend me and you her ninety horsepower she\u2019d lose that limousine limp and catch up with us on the subway gait.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t that coffee machine get on your nerves, Angie? Paw\u2019s old thing up at the store that you turn by hand has got that electric\u00a0rumbler\u00a0beat. Imported wines second floor, madam\u00a0\u2014\u00a0elevator to the right. Gee,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0I tired!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Angie turned sharply about, setting the various mounds of\u00a0gelatine\u00a0aquiver.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou think you got it\u00a0hard!\u00a0Wait till you been at the demonstrations a\u00a0year!\u00a0You just try and convince a dame that she can make a pink-and-green, heart-shaped mold, with Maraschino cherries showing through\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and have her come back next day with a sample that looks like a jellyfish and want her money back! Try that for a week and see what a cinch you\u2019ve got jangling\u00a0change!\u00a0Say, I guess that\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0some window\u00a0Koolaage\u2019s\u00a0fixin\u2019!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0it, though! Look at the brandied peaches, will you!\u201d\u00a0agreed Miss Stutz, her eyes following the figure of Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0moving cautiously about the Broadway display window.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019d\u00a0\u2018a\u2019\u00a0thought of putting glace fruit and Tunis figs and cultivated mushrooms in the same window! It\u2019s like I was\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0him up at your house last night \u2014 it\u2019s all in the knowing how. Hello, Charley, when did you get your stand-in with old Mark that you can leave your counter to entertain your friends?\u201d\u00a0said Angie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHello, there!\u201d\u00a0said Charley; but his eyes were for Miss Freda, who was intent on polishing the nails of one hand on the palm of the other.\u00a0\u201cThought you might like to try some of this spiced sausage that came in this\u00a0mornin\u2019, Freda\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019s fine!\u201d\u00a0Charley slid a small package wrapped in\u00a0tissue paper through the brass bars and his face was pleasantly eager.\u00a0\u201cTry it, Freda\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u2019s fine!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freda opened the package and regarded three exquisitely shaved paper-thin disks of the dark red delicacy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u00a0\u2014\u00a0thanks, Charley\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I never eat sausages in the\u00a0mornin\u2019. Try it on Angie.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley smiled at her, his lips tilting conscientiously upward at the corners.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all right, Freda\u00a0\u2014\u00a0keep it and maybe you\u2019ll feel like\u00a0eatin\u2019\u00a0it after a while.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, very well,\u201d\u00a0replied Miss Stutz. She placed the package in one corner of her desk and ran her forefinger along the top line of her collar.\u00a0\u201cWatch out, Charley\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you\u2019re blocking the lady\u2019s way.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ten minutes later Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0peeped through the brass bars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat time you\u00a0leavin\u2019\u00a0tonight, Miss Freda? Shall we walk up to Fifty-third Street\u00a0\u2014\u00a0like we did the other night?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t mind if we do,\u201d\u00a0simpered Miss Stutz; the simper grew into a smile and the smile finally spread all over her face\u00a0\u2014\u00a0high up round her eyes; and her teeth flashed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0you\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0up to supper tonight, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage? I was\u00a0hopin\u2019\u00a0you\u00a0was. Maw and Paw and all of us up at the house took such a fancy to you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0regarded her for a moment between the glinting bars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonest now?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll have to take pot luck; but we always got room for one more.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure I won\u2019t be any trouble, Miss Stutz?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cS-u-r-e you won\u2019t!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCourse I\u00a0kinda\u00a0aim to devote my evenings to \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0you mean,\u00a0now! \u2014\u00a0with my heart set on\u00a0havin\u2019\u00a0you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0laughed in a girlish, na\u00efve fashion and colored a violent ox-blood red clear up into his yellow hair.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an old\u00a0sayin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u2018He who hesitates is lost!\u2019\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She leaned forward on her tall stool, an escaped curl fell over her warm cheek, and the eyes that peeped through the lowered lids were soft as mist.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0everybody I\u2019d invite up\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if you don\u2019t\u00a0wanna\u00a0come, that\u2019s different.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure! I\u00a0wanna\u00a0come,\u201d\u00a0laughed Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t need to ask me twice neither; but I won\u2019t have time to go home and put on a clean collar.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to be nobody there but Charley; he comes up Monday nights to play\u00a0pinochle\u00a0with Paw; but he won\u2019t be in our way\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Charley\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0for style.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExcept when it comes to red socks!\u201d\u00a0laughed Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freda laughed after him\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a laugh as delicious as the fast burble of spring water.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut, gee!\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, the slightest shade in his voice,\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t\u00a0wanna\u00a0get him sore!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny old time,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Freda, nibbling at the delicate sliver of imported sausage.\u00a0\u201cWanna\u00a0bite?\u201d\u00a0she said, arching her head and holding her hand aloft.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure!\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She held the bite up to his lips and he bent close over her fingers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGee, that\u2019s good!\u201d\u00a0he said with a double insinuation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Across the aisle Mr.\u00a0Blutenbach\u00a0sharpened his knives one against the other, and his steel blades flashed and crashed\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Perseus, ready to slay Medusa, must have clashed his swords so. lie ripped open the canvas covering of a tube of sausage, tilted the pink heart of a boiled ham upright on to a platter, and fell to sharpening his knives\u00a0again\u00a0\u2014\u00a0they glinted and rang.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d\u00a0observed Mr.\u00a0Koolaage,\u00a0\u201cif I\u00a0wanta\u00a0be\u00a0leavin\u2019\u00a0with you I must be\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0back and get busy on that window. How do you like that jar of alcohol peaches there in the middle? It was a hard job\u00a0workin\u2019\u00a0old Silver for that\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he wanted me to use them old fake candy boxes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s swell, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a fellow that can do that well ought to be\u00a0doin\u2019\u00a0something besides window\u00a0dressin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLeave it to me\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to stick to this,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShall we meet at the side door tonight?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the side door,\u201d\u00a0he agreed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They walked home through the nippy\u00a0evening air of early spring; the red and white and green lights of Broadway began to bloom against the taupe-colored sky, and home-going New York trudged past them on foot, flashed past in caparisoned automobiles, or rumbled by in street cars that rattled their aisle-swaying humanity like dice in a box.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda wore a warm brown knit scarf at her neck with an end falling jauntily backward over one shoulder; her hands were buried in the spacious pockets of her rough brown coat. Her eight-dollar\u00a0and-eighty-nine-cent cloak fitted her with that intangible swagger which has made the American\u00a0shop girl\u00a0and How Does She Do it on Six Dollars a Week? the substance of many columns of statistics, sociological and economic pamphlets, and subjects for white-handed, Vandyke-bearded scholars who address Ladies\u2019\u00a0Uplift Societies at one hundred and twenty-five dollars per Society.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beneath the whip of an unnatural April, Miss Freda\u2019s cheeks took on a firm red that spread to her\u00a0ear tips, and her breath came from her mouth in white, cloudlike billows.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0it a grand\u00a0evenin\u2019\u00a0for\u00a0walkin\u2019\u00a0home?\u201d\u00a0she cried.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0it, though!\u201d\u00a0agreed Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, helping her through a maze of traffic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They turned into a quiet cross-town street, their paces nicely matched and the low drone of their conversation lost in the sharp click-clack of their heels on the cold, dry asphalt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They lingered a moment before the store, which was already closed for the day. A solitary gas-jet burned in the rear. Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0expressed polite interest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou got good window space there,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Stutz;\u00a0\u201cbut Paw will have these benches out here in front piled up with green goods during the day\u00a0\u2014\u00a0without\u00a0\u2018em, it\u2019s a\u00a0real\u00a0good front.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They climbed the three flights up to the flat; at each landing they paused with little gasps of pleasure and exertion and smiled breathlessly at one another. At their approach Mrs. Stutz opened the door and peered into the dim hallway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0waitin\u2019\u00a0for you and Paw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Jimmie\u2019s been home five minutes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0in the store, Maw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess he went down to get them hinges.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, I brought Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0home to supper.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh!\u201d\u00a0cried Mrs. Stutz, drawing her apron up round her ample waist.\u00a0\u201c\u00a0I\u00a0thought you was Charley with Freda. Howdy-do, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage? Walk right in.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0buttin\u2019\u00a0in,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all!\u201d\u00a0cried Mrs. Stutz, whisking off her apron; but her daughter caught the tail-end of a\u00a0glance\u00a0that was less assuring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSit right down and make yourself right at home, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage. It won\u2019t take me and Freda long to dish up. Please excuse the looks of me; but I wasn\u2019t\u00a0expectin\u2019\u00a0company tonight.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all right\u00a0\u2014\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0it, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage?\u201d\u00a0cried Freda with an artificial lightness of voice.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0tole\u00a0you it would be pot luck\u00a0\u2014\u00a0didn\u2019t I?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust don\u2019t you worry about me,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201canything\u2019s\u00a0better\u2019n\u00a0my boarding house.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda dived beneath the center table and brought up a large picture album, with a\u00a0velours\u00a0and painted celluloid cover.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re anything like me, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, you like to look at photos.\u201d\u00a0She flopped open a large, stiff page.\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t look at them silly tintypes of me; but that\u2019s Jimmie when he was three. There\u2019s Maw, taken when she was sixteen, and there\u2019s a picture of the store with Paw there\u00a0\u2014\u00a0behind that barrel. There\u2019s Maw\u2019s first cousin, who lives out in Oklahoma\u00a0\u2014 and there\u2019s his wife; and there\u2019s Maw\u2019s sister\u2019s little girl, who \u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFreda!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2019m; I\u2019m\u00a0comin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz hurried to the rear of the apartment. Out in the kitchen Mrs. Stutz was vigorously cutting additional slices of bread.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJimmie, quit\u00a0whittlin\u2019\u00a0that wood all over the floor, and run down and bring up a head of lettuce and a can of peaches from the store\u00a0\u2014\u00a0your sister brought home company.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie slouched toward the hall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGee-whiz! When a fellow\u2019s been\u00a0workin\u2019\u00a0all day can\u2019t he get a minute\u2019s rest? I got two more messages to deliver tonight. Who is that in there?\u00a0Koolaage! Didn\u2019t I tell you she was sweet on him? I\u2019d bet on it as soon as I would on the Red Sox.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz flopped a skillet on the stove and it rang angrily.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Charley?\u201d\u00a0she inquired of her daughter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz busied herself about the kitchen with a side-stepping movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know; he was\u00a0coverin\u2019\u00a0up his stock when I left. He says to tell Paw maybe he can\u2019t get here until after supper.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz ambled into the kitchen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, old lady, is supper ready?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there were tight lines about Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0mouth\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201clet Freda tell you what\u2019s up.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, Freda?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNothin\u2019, Paw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u00a0\u2018t\u00a0tell\u00a0him I will\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no sense in this thing\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0on any longer!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMind your mother, Freda,\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Stutz, anxious to dismiss an impending controversy.\u00a0\u201cA girl should mind her mother and do the right thing. How\u2019d them cabbages cook up, Bertha?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFreda, tell your Paw the way\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0actin\u2019\u00a0to Charley, and tell him who you got\u00a0sittin\u2019\u00a0out there in the front parlor in his place.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freda regarded her mother in an agony of apprehension.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSh-h-h-h, Maw; he\u2019ll hear you!\u201d\u00a0She closed the door softly and stood with her back against it looking at her father like an animal at bay.\u00a0\u201cIt\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019, Paw, except that Charley couldn\u2019t come up for supper and I brought Mr.\u00a0Koolaage. Maw\u2019s always\u00a0lookin\u2019\u00a0for\u00a0somethin\u2019\u00a0to find fault with.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAsk her what about Charley, Paw. Ask her about the way she treated him at her party and the way she\u2019s\u00a0gallivantin\u2019\u00a0round with somebody we don\u2019t know\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0about. Ask her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u00a0d\u2019yer\u00a0mean? You\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0scrappin\u2019\u00a0with Charley, are you, Freda? You just keep your galoshes on, Bertha; they\u2019ll fight it out\u00a0\u2014\u00a0young ones are young ones, you know.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if I tell you she\u2019s\u00a0runnin\u2019\u00a0round with that new yellow-headed window dresser they got down there at the store, and\u00a0treatin\u2019\u00a0Charley like\u00a0nothin\u2019? They\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0had no scrap\u00a0\u2014\u00a0she\u2019s just\u00a0treatin\u2019\u00a0him like\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0so she can keep company with him that\u2019s sitting in the parlor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw,\u201d\u00a0cried Freda, tears welling up in her eyes,\u00a0\u201che\u2019ll hear you!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her father\u2019s eyes were suddenly the cold of steel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo!\u201d\u00a0he cried.\u00a0\u201cSo that\u2019s what we got yet! Don\u2019t you try no such business\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if I have to go tell him myself. I\u2019ll go myself\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz held her vantage at the door, barring her father\u2019s way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw,\u201d\u00a0she cried,\u00a0\u201cmake him quit! I\u2019ll tell\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0after supper. Make him quit, Maw! I\u2019ll tell him after supper, Paw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Freda was trembling and her face was the drab of dust.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear what she says, Gus\u00a0\u2014\u00a0let it go this once. Tonight when Charley comes see how she acts\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just let things go and see what comes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo more such nonsense in my house!\u201d\u00a0warned Mr. Stutz, waggling a finger at his daughter.\u00a0\u201cYou get him out tonight\u00a0\u2014 you hear?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Paw. Maw, put a clean tablecloth on, and I\u2019ll call Jimmie to hurry with the peaches.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Stutz\u2019\u00a0voice jerked in her throat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The meal passed off in gloom. Mrs. Stutz made a pretense at conversation, but her husband indulged in frank silence. Miss Stutz, the red rims carefully powdered out of her eyes, was as alluring as she dared be; and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, all unsuspecting, partook with vim and relish.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks; I will have a second helping of that succotash\u00a0\u2014\u00a0when a fellow\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0used to home cooking this is great! But I expect to be\u00a0gettin\u2019\u00a0home\u00a0cookin\u2019\u00a0for\u00a0a regular diet before long,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0insinuated with an indirect glance at Miss Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWon\u2019t you have some more slaw, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Stutz and Jimmie scraped back from the table with no excuses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cS\u2019long!\u201d\u00a0said Jimmie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf Charley comes,\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Stutz,\u00a0\u201ctell him I\u2019ll be right back. I\u2019m\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0back to get them hinges.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCharley\u2019ll\u00a0come, all right\u00a0\u2014\u00a0won\u2019t he, Freda?\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz with a knowing look in her daughter\u2019s direction.\u00a0\u201cCharley sure is a devoted boy to that girl!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2019m,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the score? Who won today? Do you know,\u00a0Koolaage?\u201d\u00a0inquired Jimmie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0up on baseball.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0you?\u201d\u00a0said Jimmie in a tone as dry as wood.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFreda, what are you and Charley going to do this evening?\u201d\u00a0asked Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u201cI guess you\u00a0two\u2019ll\u00a0just go off together like\u00a0you always do. It\u2019s terrible the way you two are\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just so wrapped up in each other!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, Maw,\u201d\u00a0said Miss Freda, gulping hard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Charley arrived they all sat in a stiff little circle about the parlor. There were tired lines in Charley\u2019s face and he ran his hand through his hair very frequently, with the nervous gesture of a first speaker of the evening who is being introduced to the audience by the president of the Society, or of a man whose copper stocks have just gone down twenty points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw\u2019ll\u00a0be back soon, Charley; he had to go down to Schmidt\u2019s again about them hinges. You and Freda go along like you always do; you don\u2019t need to mind me and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0\u2014\u00a0we\u2019ll entertain each other.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For answer Miss Freda rose lightly to her feet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaw, me and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0are going to take a little walk.\u00a0My!\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0you clumsy, though, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, falling over that little chair! That\u2019s a little rocker I used to have when I was only five. We\u2019ll be back soon, Maw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSee you later, Mrs. Stutz,\u201d\u00a0said Mr.\u00a0Koolaage. He wriggled into his coat and they passed out, their laughter filtering backward.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy!\u201d\u00a0gasped Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u201cWhy, Charley, I \u2014\u00a0\u201c\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right, Maw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no use. I\u2019ve been hanging round long enough now. Freda\u2019s old enough to know what she wants.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Large tears welled up and fell in wide, meandering paths down Mrs. Stutz\u2019\u00a0cheeks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCharley,\u201d\u00a0she cried,\u00a0\u201cyou\u2019ve been a son to us as much as our own Jimmie! There\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0a boy\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if he was made of gold\u00a0\u2014\u00a0could take your place with me and Paw and Jimmie! Freda\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0settled down yet. Give her a chance! Give\u00a0\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0blamin\u2019\u00a0Freda.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0a bad kind, Maw; he\u2019s got two thousand from a delicatessen stand he had before he sold out. He\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0a bad kind, Maw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he\u00a0ain\u2019t, Maw!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my\u00a0Gawd!\u201d\u00a0cried Mrs. Stutz, laying one arm round Charley\u2019s neck.\u00a0\u201cIf he had ten thousand he couldn\u2019t take your place! There\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to come of this other. Give her a little time, Charley, she\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0\u2014\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0gotta\u00a0quit, Maw; a fellow\u2019s got to have some backbone. Freda\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0wantin\u2019\u00a0me\u00a0anymore\u00a0and I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0the kind to hang round where there\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no show.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe was wild after you, Charley, before this\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0came along\u00a0\u2014\u00a0she was wild after you. Take my word for it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know it,\u201d\u00a0replied Charley, rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes.\u00a0\u201cI think she can\u2019t get over it that me and Paw couldn\u2019t sell before the fifteenth and get a show at that\u00a0Amsterdam\u00a0place.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0cut me out square, Maw. I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got a chance there\u00a0anymore.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They sat staring past one another; at intervals Mrs. Stutz sniffed and brushed her eyes with her apron.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sad thing to raise children!\u201d\u00a0she whimpered.\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s no\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0how they\u2019ll turn out.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t carry on so bad, Maw; you\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0got no kick\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0on Freda. They all tell me\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0is a good, honest fellow, and\u00a0\u2014 well, I was just\u00a0countin\u2019\u00a0too strong on her, I guess. I \u2014\u00a0Oh, what\u2019s\u00a0the use\u00a0talkin\u2019!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley rose abruptly to his feet and walked over to the window, standing with his back to the room and gazing moodily into the street below.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Stutz rocked herself to and fro in a straight chair and uttered little inarticulate moans from time to time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow I\u2019ve been\u00a0countin\u2019\u00a0on the new store and the new flat, and you and Freda! Paw was\u00a0sayin\u2019\u00a0only the other night things was\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0out grand, us all\u00a0bein\u2019\u00a0together in the new flat and\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and everything.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAw,\u00a0Maw!\u00a0Aw,\u00a0Maw!\u201d\u00a0Charley placed his hand heavily upon her shoulder.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The duet of Miss Freda\u2019s and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u2019s\u00a0laughter drifted in from the outer hall; they entered with the smiles still carved on their lips.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGee! What are\u00a0you so quiet about?\u201d\u00a0sang Miss Stutz.\u00a0\u201cWhere\u2019s Paw?\u00a0Ain\u2019t\u00a0he back yet?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d\u00a0replied Charley, smiling at them;\u00a0\u201che\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0back yet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0that\u00a0provokin\u2019? Won\u2019t you sit down and wait, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to be in a hurry; but if he\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0back soon I\u2019ll have to come back in the\u00a0mornin\u2019\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I just want to see him a few minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz stiffly,\u00a0\u201cthere\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0no\u00a0tellin\u2019\u00a0when\u00a0Paw\u2019ll\u00a0get back.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The sharp tick-tack of a clock penetrated from the bedroom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLemme\u00a0take your coat, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage,\u201d\u00a0said Freda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Maw; Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0wants to see Paw\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaw\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0here, I said,\u201d\u00a0replied Mrs. Stutz scantly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charley inserted three fingers inside his collar.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d\u00a0he said,\u00a0\u201cI guess I\u2019d better be\u00a0goin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t go, Charley.\u201d\u00a0Miss Freda placed her hand on his arm and he drew it away.\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t need to be afraid to talk out before Charley, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0cleared his throat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is, Mrs. Stutz\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the fact is\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is, Maw, me and Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0have made a deal on the store. I\u2019ve been\u00a0holdin\u2019\u00a0out\u00a0fer\u00a0twenty-two hundred,\u00a0\u2018cause\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0givin\u2019\u00a0it away at that; but I told him if you and Paw was\u00a0willin\u2019\u00a0to knock off two hundred and let it go at two thousand, I wasn\u2019t\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to be the one to say no, even if it was\u00a0givin\u2019\u00a0it away.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh!\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought maybe the cash deal might make a difference with you and Paw; so I told Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0I\u2019d put his offer up to you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh!\u201d\u00a0said Mrs. Stutz.\u00a0\u201cI was\u00a0thinkin\u2019, Maw, if you\u2019d go down and run over the books with Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0till Paw gets back, it might help some. Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0is in a hurry\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he\u2019s got to get away out to Newark tonight yet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like Freda says, Mrs. Stutz. I don\u2019t want to hurry you, but I\u2019m\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0out to Newark tonight and I\u2019d like to know a little more definite before I go; so I\u00a0\u2014\u00a0well, so I can take some news along.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr.\u00a0Koolaage\u2019s\u00a0in a hurry, Maw. If he makes the deal he wants to fix it so they can come in on the fifteenth\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that\u2019s \u2014\u00a0\u201c\u00a0Freda\u00a0looked at Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0with a pretty appeal in her eyes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my lady friend\u2019s birthday, Mrs. Stutz; and we\u2019d get married and do it up in a hurry! I brought Lizzie in from Newark Sunday to look at the outside, and she liked it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh! Wait, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage, till I get the keys. Certainly I\u2019ll be glad to go down with you. Freda,\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0you\u00a0ashamed!\u00a0Why don\u2019t you give Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0that big chair? Mr.\u00a0Stutz\u2019ll\u00a0be back any minute now\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just you wait here a minute till I get the keys.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Freda\u2019s gone over\u00a0everything\u00a0pretty well with me, but she\u2019s afraid she\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0been accurate enough; so I\u2019m just humoring her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome right this way, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage\u00a0\u2014\u00a0be careful of the steps!\u00a0It just\u00a0makes me sick to think of\u00a0movin\u2019\u00a0out of here, Mr.\u00a0Koolaage! Now that I know a bride and groom are\u00a0comin\u2019\u00a0in, I\u2019m\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to leave that horseshoe over the door.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0this room papered bright!\u201d\u00a0observed Mr.\u00a0Koolaage.\u00a0\u201cLizzie loves bright wall paper. I always tell her she\u2019s so fond of\u00a0workin\u2019\u00a0that, if she didn\u2019t have\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0else to do, she\u2019d shine the flowers on the wall paper!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way with me. I \u2014\u00a0\u201c\u00a0Their\u00a0voices drifted down the rear stairs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the bright-lit parlor Miss Freda let her head drop heavily on Charley\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m awfully tired, Charley.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy little Freda! Gee! Why didn\u2019t you tell us, honey?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and have you all come in and spoil things!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She let her hand rest caressingly on his cheek.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, it\u2019s good to be back home\u00a0again!\u201d\u00a0She nestled against him and dragged his head down to kiss his forehead where the hair sprang back.\u00a0\u201cSellin\u2019\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0near so easy as\u00a0buyin\u2019!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy little girl! My little pussy! Say, didn\u2019t you put one over on us!\u201d\u00a0said Charley, his eyes shining with the softness of spring rain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their faces were close.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmie entered, slamming the door behind him, and scurried down the\u00a0narrow\u00a0hall toward the dark kitchen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat you in there, Charley?\u201d\u00a0he called.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI heard some fellows\u00a0sayin\u2019\u00a0Welch was\u00a0goin\u2019\u00a0to pitch today. Who won?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Red\u00a0Sox!\u201d\u00a0replied Charley.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fannie Hurst\u2019s writing career began in the pages of The Saturday Evening Post. The all-but-forgotten author was one of the highest paid writers in the United States after World War I. Of Hurst, it was said that \u201cno other living American woman has gone so far in fiction in so short a time.\u201d Her novels…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}