y in
a state which resembled the delightful languor of hasheesh, untroubled,
irresponsible, save when something reminded her that after Chicago--the
cataclysm. Yet she had not yielded easily to Toomey's importunities. It
had required all his powers of persuasion to overcome her scruples, her
ingrained thrift and natural prudence.

"We need the change; we've lived too long in a high altitude, and we're
nervous wrecks, both of us," he had argued. "We should get in touch with
things and the right kind of people. A trip like this is an
investment--that's the way you want to look at it. If you want to win
anything in this world you've got to take chances. It's the plungers,
not the plodders, who make big winnings. I gotta hunch that I'm going to
get in touch with somebody that'll take an interest in me."

Left to herself, Mrs. Toomey would have paid something on their most
urgent debts and bought prudently, but she told herself that Jap was as
likely to be right as she was, and the argument that he might meet some
one who would be of benefit to him was convincing; so finally she had
consented. The sense of unreality and wonder which Mrs. Toomey
experienced when she saw her trunk going was surpassed only by the
astonishment of the neighbors, who all but broke the glass in their
various windows as they pressed against it to convince themselves that
the sight was not an optical illusion.

The Toomeys had traveled in a stateroom, over Mrs. Toomey's feeble
protest, and the best room with bath in one of the best hotels in
Chicago was not too good for Mr. Toomey. They had thought to stay three
weeks, with reasonable economy, and return with a modest bank balance,
but the familiar environment was too much for Toomey, who dropped back
into his old way of living as though he never had been out of it, while
the new clothes and the brightness of the atmosphere of prosperity after
the years of anxiety and poverty drugged Mrs. Toomey's conscience and
caution into a profound slumber--the latter to be awakened only when,
counting the banknotes in her husband's wallet, she was startled to
discover that they had little more than enough to pay their hotel bill
and return to Prouty in comfort. If either of them remembered the source
from which their present luxurious enjoyment came, neither mentioned it.

The breakfast and service this morning were perfect and Mrs. Toomey
sighed contentedly as she crumpled her napkin and reached for the pape