tring of this--and not a word for
me to say. What could any one of said? Wasn't it being told to me by
the happiest woman I ever set eyes on? Yes, sir; I'd never believe how
gentle natured the boy was. Why, that very morning, being worried about
something that went wrong with breakfast, which she had to turn out at
five A. M. to get started hadn't she clean forgot to change his studs to
a fresh shirt? And, to make it worse, hadn't she laid out a wrong color
of socks with his lavender tie? But had he been cross to her, as most men
would of been? Not for one second! He'd simply joked her about it when
she brought up his breakfast tray, just as he'd joked her to-night about
her hands getting rough from the kitchen work. And so forth and so forth!

The poor thing had got so dead for sleep by this time that she was merely
babbling. She'd probably of fallen over in her clothes if I hadn't been
there. Anyway, I got her undressed and into bed. She said Clyde's
goodnight song always rung in her ears till she slept. It didn't ring
long this night. She was off before I got out the door. Darned if I
hadn't been kind of embarrassed by her talk, knowing it would never
do for me to bust in with anything bordering on the vicious, such as
suggesting that if Clyde now and then went into the kitchen and helped
Baby Girl with the dishes it would make a very attractive difference
in him. I took another good look at his pictures in the parlour before
I let myself out of the house. He still looked good--but hell!

I wrote Aunt Esther the same evening not to worry one minute about Vida's
happiness, because I wished we could all be as happy as she was. All the
same I took pains to go round to that boarding house a couple times more
because it seemed like the girl's happiness might have a bum foundation.
Darling Clyde was as merry and attentive as ever and Vida was still
joyous. I guess she kept joyous at her work all day by looking forward to
that golden moment after dinner when her boy would sing Good night, good
night, beloved--he'd come to watch o'er her! How that song did light her
face up!

She confided to me one of these times that the funny men are always
making jokes about how much it costs a woman for clothes, and she
wondered why they didn't make some of their old jokes about how much it
costs for men's clothes too. She said I wouldn't believe how much they
had to lay out on Clyde's clothes so he'd be sure to look right when a
suita