id Joe. "I'm selling 'em." He held the door open invitingly.
"Maybe you'll buy one some day."

Again the swift flash of a smile passed over the slack mouth and there
was a gathering in the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. Painfully
she pulled herself up into the car and sank into the seat beside him.

He switched on the motor, threw out the clutch, engaged the starting
gear, and paused with his hand on the lever.

"We'll go around this way. It's not so crowded and I think the air's
better."

She smiled at him confidently.

They started. At the corner he swung around in a wide sweep. He caught
a glance at her and saw her sitting with eyes glued intently on the
street before them, her hands gripping the edge of the seat. Then the
block ahead was straight and smooth and free of traffic.

He patted the chest of his coat.

"I've just put an order away in here," he said. "It's very easy.
They're scrambling over each other to buy these cars."

She gave him a fleeting glance and returned to her desperate business
of watching the road.

For a moment he was silent. They rounded another corner.

"I'm not really expecting you to buy a car--merely speak a good word
for it with your friends. That is, if you like it. It is all right,
isn't it?"

At his questioning tone she again ventured a look at him and smiled
again uncertainly, still gripping the edges of the seat.

One more corner and they were on the return trip. Directly they were
rolling up toward the curb from whence they had started. They stopped
and Joe reached over and opened the door again. The old woman caught
the import of the movement and clambered stiffly out, stooping low
with her head to avoid the top brace. She stood on the curbing,
bewildered and blinking, apparently lost.

Joe reached out and handed her a card.

"You're headed just the same way you were when I picked you up," he
said. "And in the same spot." And as she made no move and apparently
did not hear him, "Call on me if I can serve you. I can do other
things besides sell motor cars.

"Good-bye," he said, tipping his hat and slamming the door shut. Then
he moved away. He left her standing there, watching.

He turned in Fourth Street and slowed down to about six miles an hour.
The lengthening shadows were bringing out the ephemeral creatures that
might otherwise wither in the heat. The west pavement was already
crowded and there was a stream of motors idling along in a sluggish
tide