verybody and had a great career
before me and--and--oh that grand yearning happy feeling which comes out
of being young and full of strength and a good bank-account. Do you get
me? You do!

Well anyways, here I was walking like I had money on it and huming a
tune to myself, when along comes a man the other way, walking two to my
one, and huming the same tune, "How I hate to get up in the morning," it
was. When he heard me and I heard him we both sort of half stopped out
of surprise, and I got a good look at him. It was the young Captain from
the hotel.

He also give a start of surprise when he seen me, showing he recognized
me just as good as I did him. Only it was a real, genuine start, as if
he realized something more than the fact he had seen me at the hotel.
Then he smiled--a smile which would of done any dental ad. proud, and
passed along, looking back over his shoulder--once. While I went along
minding my own business and only know he looked back on account of my
happening to look back to see how far I had gone. I went a mile further
and somehow that smile of his stuck in my mind and made me sort of happy
for no reason, and at the same time awful extra lonesome for Jim. I made
up my mind I would get Jim a new car for a surprise when he come home
and I would send him a extra box of eats this week and some of them
cigarettes he likes so well, and a whole lot of stuff like that, the way
a woman does at such a time. Do you get me? Probably.

Well anyways, I walked myself into a terrible enthusiasm over Jim, and
then come back to the hotel. Which, by the way, its a strange thing how
much further it is coming back to a Atlantic City hotel than walking
away from it. And there at the door was Ma with the two dogs. A real
strange sight for I never knew her to take them out before, and it
looked like a guilty conscience, for she give me a peek out of the
corner of her eye for some reason and then hastily explained how she had
thought she'd take them herself this time instead of Musette. Well, we
got rid of the dogs and then come down to dinner where Maison sailed
down upon us all dressed up and no place to go, for it seems this Mr.
Freddy had stood her up on the dinner, having telephoned he'd be over
later with a friend or two but business prevented him paying for her
meal, or at least thats what I expect he meant. And Maison was wild. But
she had to eat dinner with us, and register a bunch of complaints
between bowing t