“Chick!”
“Corp’al Lewis!”
The recognition was mutual and simultaneous.
“Chick, are you waiting to see me?”
“Yes, they’s somethin’ I kind o’ want to ast you.”
“All right! Go ahead and ask it. You’ll never find me in a more genial frame of mind.”
“Well, do you ’member ’bout that letter I found, to a girl name o’ Rachael?”
“Do I remember about it! Chick, the finding of that letter has made me the happiest man on earth.”
“That so?” Chick seemed to be a little incredulous at first, but when he looked into the beaming face of the young man, as the light from the incandescent lamp at the corner fell on it, he no longer doubted his words.
“Yes, let me tell you.” Young Lewis came closer and lowered his voice, although the street was quiet as an African desert, and every house in the block was closed and locked for the night. “You see, I took that letter with me when I went there this evening, and I told her about how you had found it and given it back to me; and, naturally, she wanted to see it; so, after a while, I let her read it. And that sort o’ broke the ice, and—well, Chick, that girl by the name of Rachael has promised to be my wife.”