She went up to her room and Ella snuck
out to keep her date with Francis. In
less than an hour she romped into our
room again and throwed herself on the
bed.
"Well," I says, "it must of been a lit-
tle apartment if it didn't only take you
this long to see it."

* 'Oh, shut up I " she said. ' ' I didn 't see

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QUICK RETUENS 47

no apartment. And don't say a word to
me or I'll scream."

Well, I finally got her calmed down
and she give me the details. It seems
that she'd met Francis, and he'd got a
taxi and they'd got in the taxi and they
hadn't no sooner than got in the taxi
when Francis give her a kiss.
"Quick returns," I says.
"I'll kill you if you say another word!"
she says.
So I managed to keep still.
Well, I didn't know Francis' home ad-
dress, and Wall Street don't run Sun-
days, so I spent the Sabbath training on
a quart of rye that a bell hop picked up
at a bargain sale somewheres for fifteen
dollars. Mean wile Katie had been let in
on the secret and staid in our room all
day, moaning like a prune-fed calf.
"I'm afraid to leave her alone," says
Ella. "I'm afraid she'll jump out the
window."

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48 THE BIG TOWN

"You're easily worried," I said,
"Wiiat I'm afraid of is that she won't."

Monday morning finally come, as it
generally always does, and I told the gals
I was going to some first-class men's store
and buy myself some ties and shirts that
didn't look like a South Bend embahner.
