“Cigarette?” I asked her.
“Please.”
I gave her a cigarette. Hale took a cigar. We lit up.
“Where are you boys from?” she asked.
I said, “My friend’s from New York.”
“Must be quite a city. I’ve never been there. I think I’d be afraid to go.”
“Why?” Hale asked her.
“Oh, I don’t know. Big cities terrify me. I know I couldn’t find my way around.”
Hale contrived to cast himself in the role of cosmopolite by saying, “I think New York is an easy city to get around in. Chicago and Saint Louis are much more difficult.”
“They’re all too big for me.”