A tall, lanky guy who I didn’t know, and whose name I hadn’t caught when I was introduced, pricked up his ears when he heard that and came over. He’d read it too, so I guess they were soul-mates. I got up quietly and left them to it.
The certain sign that a party is going well is when the people start going into the kitchen. I thought I’d have a look and see if any one had got there yet. I drifted in and found a couple with their arms around each other and their faces glued together.
That told me the party was going all right.
“If she bites you, I’ll give you the verdict,” I said.
The fellow prised himself loose. “I bet your ma thinks you’re a scream,” he said coldly.
Not so good. I went back to the sitting-room. Dawn and the lanky guy had exhausted Steinbeck and were sitting playing handies.
Someone started the gramophone and everyone broke up into couples to dance. There was no room for much movement, but so long as they’d got their arms round a girl and could shuffle their feet a yard or two, they didn’t care.
I was content to sit in an armchair and watch them. Hughson came over after a little while and sat on the arm of my chair.
“The old man’s pleased the way you handled the Colonel for us,” he said. “He thinks you made a swell job of it.”
Hughson was the sort of guy who would never let anything rest. He kept on plugging at the thing, and now nice the Colonel was about it, until I thought I’d go haywire.