s and
laughs--that laugh--that horrible brassy laugh--the way she yaps, 'You
naughty man, you better be careful or my big husband will be after
you!'--and the guy looking me over and thinking, 'Why, you cute little
thing, you run away now or I'll spank you!' And she'll let him go just
far enough so she gets some excitement out of it and then she'll begin
to do the injured innocent and have a beautiful time wailing, 'I
didn't think you were that kind of a person.' They talk about these
demi-vierges in stories--"

"These WHATS?"

"--but the wise, hard, corseted, old married women like Zilla are worse
than any bobbed-haired girl that ever went boldly out into this-here
storm of life--and kept her umbrella slid up her sleeve! But rats, you
know what Zilla is. How she nags--nags--nags. How she wants everything I
can buy her, and a lot that I can't, and how absolutely unreasonable she
is, and when I get sore and try to have it out with her she plays the
Perfect Lady so well that even I get fooled and get all tangled up in
a lot of 'Why did you say's' and 'I didn't mean's.' I'll tell you,
Georgie: You know my tastes are pretty fairly simple--in the matter of
food, at least. Course, as you're always complaining, I do like decent
cigars--not those Flor de Cabagos you're smoking--"

"That's all right now! That's a good two-for. By the way, Paul, did I
tell you I decided to practically cut out smok--"

"Yes you--At the same time, if I can't get what I like, why, I can
do without it. I don't mind sitting down to burnt steak, with canned
peaches and store cake for a thrilling little dessert afterwards, but
I do draw the line at having to sympathize with Zilla because she's
so rotten bad-tempered that the cook has quit, and she's been so busy
sitting in a dirty lace negligee all afternoon, reading about some brave
manly Western hero, that she hasn't had time to do any cooking. You're
always talking about 'morals'--meaning monogamy, I suppose. You've been
the rock of ages to me, all right, but you're essentially a simp. You--"

"Where d' you get that 'simp,' little man? Let me tell you--"

"--love to look earnest and inform the world that it's the 'duty of
responsible business men to be strictly moral, as an example to the
community.' In fact you're so earnest about morality, old Georgie, that
I hate to think how essentially immoral you must be underneath. All
right, you can--"

"Wait, wait now! What's--"

"--talk about mora