Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 4, 1926 — page 164: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

474 to handle it. Which was nothing to be sur- prised about; girls are always getting an idea that they can make themselves useful in one way or another. What I myself began to remark was that the pickle boat stopped longer than usual at the landings where our crowd lived. Longer and longer. Yet, we did not seem to be buying any more stuff than before. Even when Mart King and I went aboard one morning and saw Kathleen and Edith Kenny “ kidding ” Willie, we didn’t think anything of it. I did speak to my sister about it; told her she ought not to make free with persons of that sort. But she bristled—as sisters are fond of doing—and said that she could amuse herself without any advice from me. One day a lot of the girls were over at our place and just as Tom, Arthur Kenny and I strolled up to where they were sitting on the porch there was a loud outburst of laughter. Tom inquired: mirth?” And Beatrice Kenny told him: ‘‘ We were laughing at something Mr. Spicer told Dorothy this morning.” T said: “ Mr. Spicer? Who on earth is Mr. Spicer?”’ “Why,” said Beatrice, “ Mr. Spicer, who works on the supply boat.” “ Oh,” said I, “ you mean Willie—Willie off the Pickle Boat.” “The same,” put in Edith. Then she looked at me for a minute and added: “‘ A very interesting chap he is, too.” I did not like that. You see, things had got to the point with me where I was sort of putting Edith in a class by herself, in my own mind. I won’t go so far as to say that I was in love with the girl. A man of twenty-one is apt to watch his step these days. ! But I had decided that Edith was more worth while than any of the others, and I was quietly analyzing her various traits as a fellow is bound to do when he gives a frill more than a passing thought. So when she came out with that it gave me a bit of a jolt. Then it occurred to me that she had said it in a joke, and I laughed. “Ha, hat” said I. “ That’s a good one!” “Why all the ribald ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. At that moment Kathleen made matters worse by saying: ‘“He’s an awfully nice chap. I’ve a notion to invite him to my dance next week.” That was too much. what?” “You heard me,’ my sister replied. ‘““Why do you act so stupid, Marvin? Why shouldn’t I ask anybody I choose to my dance?” That nettled. me, because she ought to have known why without asking. But I kept my temper and merely said: “ Of course if you’re so dumb that you can’t see why you should not bring a’ cheap grocery clerk or deckhand or whatever this fellow is, into your home I don’t see that ite would be any use trying to explain. You’re only fooling, anyhow.” ‘You'll see if I am fooling or not,” she said. Just the same I was knocked for a row of coconut trees when she told me, a couple of days later, that Willie was coming if he could dig up a dress suit. I said: “ You IV. THE less said about that dance the bet- ter. The Willie person came and the girls made the silliest sort of a fuss over him. His red head showed up in the crowd like a lighthouse on a hill, and while the men were civil to him, they gave him pretty well to understand that he was damned lucky to be where he was. In a subtle way, of course. He was a silly sort of chap—laughing all the time, and he did not seem. to notice that he was being politely snubbed. Too thick-skinned, I suppose. But he could dance pretty well, which seems to be all a man needs to get along with the girls. You could see how hard he was trying not to make a break when he talked. Too precise, if you know what I mean. He would stop and pick his words before he made a remark, which I admit was a relief because I had been afraid he would drop a few cuss words without thinking. He had the gall of the devil, too. I asked him where he hailed from, and he said: “ All over. I was a steward on CORNICLOOOKS (F@)