"All right, teacher," he drawled."What'll we put in Sure Mike's place? I've found him a handy man!""Say `certainly.'"
Jim grinned good-naturedly.
"Aw hell, Kiddo--that sounds punk!" "And HELL, Jim, isn't a nice word----""Gee, Kid, now look here--can't get along with out HELL--leave me that one just a little while."She shook her head."No."
"No?"
"And PUNK is expressive, but not suited to parlor use.""All right--t'ell with PUNK!"He turned and looked."What's thematter now?" he asked.
"Don't you realize what you've just said?" "What did I say?"She turned away to hide a tear.
He threw his arms around her neck and drew her lips down to his.
"Ah, don't worry, Kiddo--I'll do better next time.Honest to God, I will.That's enough for today.Just let's love now.T'ell with the rest."She smiled in answer.
"You promise to try honestly?" He raised his hand in solemn vow."S'help me!"Each day's trial ended in a laugh and a kiss until at last Jim refused to promise any more.He grinned in obstinate, good-natured silence and let her do the worrying.
She watched him with growing wonder and alarm.He gradually lapsed into little coarse, ugly habits at the table.She tried playfully to correct them.He took it good-naturedly at first and then ignored her suggestions as if she were a kitten complaining at his feet.
She studied him with baffling rage at the mystery of his personality.The long silences between them grew from hour to hour.She could see that he was restless now at the isolation of their sand-island home.The queer lights and shadows that played in his cold blue eyes told only too plainly that his mind was back again in the world of battle.He was fighting something, too.
She was glad of it.She could manage him better there.She would throw him into the company of educated people and rouse his pride and ambition.She heard his announcement of their departure on the eighth day with positive joy.
"Well, Kiddo," he began briskly, "we've got to be moving.Time to get back to work now.The old town and the little shop down in Avenue B have been calling me.""Today, Jim?" she asked quickly.
"Right away.We'll catch the first train north, stop two days,Christmas Eve and Christmas, in Asheville, and then for old New York!"The journey along the new railroad built on concrete bridges over miles of beautiful waters was one of unalloyed joy.They had passed over this stretch of marvelous engineering at night on their trip down and had not realized its wonders.For hours the train seemed to be flying on velvet wings through the ocean.
She sat beside her lover and held his hand.In spite of her enthusiasm, he would doze.At every turn of entrancing view she would pinch his arm:
"Look, Jim!Look!"
He would lift his heavy eyelids, grunt good- naturedly and doze again.In the dining-car she was in mortal terror at first lest he should lapse into the coarse table manners into which he had fallen in camp.She laid his napkin conspicuously on his plate and saw that he had opened and putit in place across his lap before ordering the meals.
The moment he found himself in a crowd, the lights began to flash in his eyes, his broad shoulders lifted and his whole being was at once alert and on guard.He followed his wife's lead with unerring certainty.
She renewed her faith in his early reformation, though his character was a puzzle.He seemed to be forever watching out of the corners of his slumbering eyes.She wondered what it meant.
