Buddy closed a meaning eye, and his pleasant features wrinkled into that infectious smile. "I'll tell the world I did! After the whistlin' squabs was asleep in their nests I went out among the whippoorwills an' the bats. Ain't it funny how quick folks can learn to put up with bad grammar when you got a jingle in your jeans? I guess I've got enough education to do me; anyhow, I can write Ozark Briskow in the lower right-hand corner and that seems to get me by."
"You wouldn't consent to go back or—have a tutor, like Allie?"
"Who, me?" Briskow laughed scornfully.
"Um-m! Merely a suggestion. You are the architect of your own career."
"I'm fed up on that kind of schoolin', Mr. Gray. I—" Buddy's face reddened, he dropped his eyes. "I don't mind tellin' you—I—It's like this—I kinda got a girl!"
"No!" The speaker was surprised, incredulous.
"Sure have. She's—wonderful. She's right here in this hotel!"
"Buddy, you're developing!" Gray exclaimed, with apparent admiration.
"I been showin' her the sights—that's what ails me this morning. She lets me take her around to places—trusts me, you understand? She thinks I'm aces."
"Splendid! I wish you'd ask her to dig up a friend."