veritably her
husband, in a new suit that was fiercely pressed and shaped, in new,
gleaming, ox-blood shoes, with a hair-cut and a barber shave. He was
bending over the bed, which was piled with new shirts, Afro-American
ties, new toilet articles, and he was packing a new suit-case.

He turned slowly, enjoying her amazement. He finished packing a shirt.
She said nothing, standing at the door. Teetering on his toes and
watching the effect of it all on her, he lighted a large cigar.

"Some class, eh?" he said.

"Well--"

"Nifty suit, eh? And how are those for swell ties?"

"Very nice.... From whom did you borrow the money?"

"Now that cer'nly is a nice, sweet way to congratulate friend hubby. Oh,
_sure_! Man lands a job, works his head off getting it, gets an advance
for some new clothes he's simply got to have, and of course everybody
else congratulates him--everybody but his own wife. She sniffs at
him--not a word about the new job, of course. First crack outa the box,
she gets busy suspecting him, and says, 'Who you been borrowing of now?'
And this after always acting as though she was an abused little innocent
that nobody appreciated--"

He was in mid-current, swimming strong, and waving his cigar above the
foaming waters, but she pulled him out of it with, "I _am_ sorry. I
ought to have known. I'm a beast. I am glad, awfully glad you've got a
new job. What is it?"

"New company handling a new kind of motor for row-boats--converts 'em to
motor-boats in a jiffy--outboard motors they call 'em. Got a swell
territory and plenty bonus on new business."

"Oh, isn't that fine! It's such a fine surprise--and it's cute of you to
keep it to surprise me with all this while--"

"Well, 's a matter of fact, I just got on to it to-day. Ran into Burke
McCullough on Sixth Avenue, and he gave me the tip."

"Oh!" A forlorn little "Oh!" it was. She had pictured him proudly
planning to surprise her. And she longed to have the best possible
impression of him, because of a certain plan which was hotly being
hammered out in her brain. She went on, as brightly as possible:

"And they gave you an advance? That's fine."

"Well, no, _they_ didn't, exactly, but Burke introduced me to his
clothier, and I got a swell line of credit."

"Oh!"

"Now for the love of Pete, don't go oh-ing and ah-ing like that. You've
handed me the pickled visage since I got the rowdy-dow on my last
job--good Lord! you acted like you thought I _liked_