something it was not. It was very irritating. Ray took his cigar and his evening paper and wandered uneasily into the Italian living room, doubling his lean length into one of his queer, angular hard chairs.

Cora would appear in the doorway, hatted. “Ready?”

“Huh? Where you going?”

“Oh, Ray, aren’t you fun-ny! You know this is the Crowd’s poker night at Lil’s.”

The Crowd began to say that old Ray was going queer. Honestly, didja hear him last week? Talking about the instability of the home, and the home being the foundation of the state, and the country crumbling? Cora’s face was a sight! I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his boots when she got him home. What’s