And took me for a drive,--it
seems he had just collected his salary,--and he came again, and we went
to the park, and he came again. And that was when I began to see the
halo around the wedding bells. One night he was telling me his
experiences in saving money,--uproariously funny, my dear, for he never
could save more than five dollars a month, and ran in debt fifteen
dollars to encompass it. He said:
"'My wife used to say it was harder work for me to carry my salary home
from the office than to earn it right at the start.'
"I laughed,--I thought of course it was a joke. I guess the laugh was
revealing, for he turned around suddenly and said:
"'You knew I was married, didn't you, Connie?' First time he ever
called me Connie.
"Well, the halo vanished like a flash and hasn't got back yet.
"I said, 'No, I didn't know it.'
"'Why, everybody knows it,' he expostulated.
"'I did not.'
"'We are devoted to each other,' he said, laughing lightly, 'but we
find our devotion wears better at long distance. So she lives wherever
I do not, and we get along like birdies in their little nest. I
haven't seen her for two years.'
"Then he went on with his financial experiences, evidently calling the
subject closed.
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