V
It was after ten o’clock when Nathan heard his father come in from the doctor’s. The boy had gone to his room to throw himself, fully dressed, upon his bed. He lay staring out through opened windows at the warm spring stars. Somewhere down to the south of town the frogs were piping faintly. Wonderful scents of awakening shrubs and sod wafted in at the window. The night was hushed, mystic. He was eighteen and in love.
He waited until the snarling voices of father and mother had become double-muffled by the closed door of their bedroom. He heard both father and mother retire. The hour slipped on into deeper night and utter nerve exhaustion brought sleep to his parents. Then he arose and tiptoed softly across the hall.
“Edie,” he whispered, “I’m going out.”
Edith sat up in bed.
“Where are you going, at this time of night?”
“Down to see Carol. I’ve got to square myself for the raw deal she got to-night.”
“How you going to get out?”
“Over the woodshed roof. And listen! If Pa or Ma get wise, hang something white in your window, so I won’t be climbing into a trap. It’d be just like him to hit me a crack from the dark before I could defend myself.”
“I’ll do it if to-morrow night you’ll keep watch while I sneak out!”
“Why do you want to sneak out?”
“To meet Tad MacHenry. He’s just wild about me. You oughta hear him. If Pa won’t lemme have him into the house or even speak to a feller during the day, why I’ll do it at night, that’s all.”
“But, Edie—it’s a little different—for a fellow to go out at night—than for a girl to—I——”
“Huh! Think you’re smart, don’t you? Think you’ve thought up a swell way to see Carrie, skinnin’ out over the woodshed room. Well, just for that, I’ll have you know that Mr. Turner, the hardware man, made a duplicate of the back-door key most two months ago. I been seein’ Tad two or three times a week since February, already.”
The flabbergasted brother managed to ask:
“Then why do you want me to let you out to-morrow night——”
“It’s my nerves, skinnin’ back into a dark house and thinkin’ I was walkin’ into Pa who’d missed me and was up waitin’ for me. Besides, I got a good scare one morning when I almost run into old Braithwaite, the milkman.”
“We’ll talk about that to-morrow, Edie. You’re taking pretty tall chances for a girl—going out all night with a fellow like Tad. He’s a pretty smooth pool player and with girls——”
“Oh, I guess I can take care of myself—and no thanks to Pa and Ma, either. Anyhow, you don’t need to sneak out over the woodshed roof. You can use my key. But for the Lord’s sake, don’t go sprawlin’ over anything in the kitchen or the jig’s up.”