I couldn't stand him any longer. "You are a worm!" I told him.
"You're probably right, Mike," he agreed, without any particular heat. "But a rather just one. I think you'll admit you've been paid off in your own coin. All you had to do was beg off."
"In front of her? You knew I wouldn't."
"I figured you wouldn't. That's one of the advantages of being older. You know more about how the young will behave. Come on," he said, getting up to put on his coat again. "We have to see a man."
"One thing," I said, as I got up, "while we're being so just."
"Yes?"
"I had thought of asking your Sylvia for a date. But she was so snippy the other night I decided to forget it. Now, she got me into this, and she'll have to pay and pay! How do I get to her? It'll be quite a while before I'm an astronaut."
He took his pipe from between his teeth. "This calls for the wisdom of a Solomon," he decided. "But you might try oysters."
It was pretty good advice. I hung behind him long enough to tell Sylvia about the Chincoteague oysters they put in the stew at Grand Central Terminal, and got a dinner date. That was all, just the date, because Cleary was itching to take me to see a man.