s
something I could do to help."

"Dun'no'. There's a pretty close agreement between a lot of the leading
paint-and-varnish people--gentleman's agreement--and it's pretty hard to
get in any place if you're in Dutch with any of the others. Well, I'm
going down now and watch 'em gwillotine me. You better not wait to have
dinner with me. I'll be there late, thrashing all over the carpet with
the old man, and then I gotta see some fellas and start something. Come
here, Una."

He stood up. She came to him, and when he put his two hands on her
shoulders she tried to keep her aversion to his touch out of her look.

He shook his big, bald head. He was unhappy and his eyes were old.
"Nope," he said; "nope. Can't be done. You mean well, but you haven't
got any fire in you. Kid, can't you understand that there are wives
who've got so much passion in 'em that if their husbands came home
clean-licked, like I am, they'd--oh, their husbands would just
naturally completely forget their troubles in love--real love, with fire
in it. Women that aren't ashamed of having bodies.... But, oh, Lord! it
ain't your fault. I shouldn't have said anything. There's lots of wives
like you. More 'n one man's admitted his wife was like that, when he's
had a couple drinks under his belt to loosen his tongue. You're not to
blame, but-- I'm sorry.... Don't mind my grouch when I came in. I was so
hot, and I'd been worrying and wanted to blame things onto somebody....
Don't wait for me at dinner. If I ain't here by seven, go ahead and
feed. Good-by."

Sec. 2

All she knew was that at six a woman's purring voice on the telephone
asked if Mr. Eddie Schwirtz had returned to town yet. That he did not
reappear till after midnight. That his return was heralded by wafting
breezes with whisky laden. That, in the morning, there was a smear of
rice powder on his right shoulder and that he was not so urgent in his
attentions to her as ordinarily. So her sympathy for him was lost. But
she discovered that she was neither jealous nor indignant--merely
indifferent.

He told her at breakfast that, with his usual discernment, he had
guessed right. When he had gone to the office he had been discharged.

"Went out with some business acquaintances in the evening--got to pull
all the wires I can now," he said.

She said nothing.

Sec. 3

They had less than two hundred dollars ahead. But Mr. Schwirtz borrowed
a hundred from his friend, Burke McCullough, and did