A few hours later Hunch came plunging out of a saloon, with two men who were afraid to decline his treats. It was dark, but when a certain carriage passed, he could see by the corner light that one of the occupants wore a white veil. So he went back into the saloon, and amused himself shooting patterns through the stove until he fell asleep over a box of sawdust. Then it was, and not before, that the discreet constable had him carted away to sober up at the county's expense. CHAPTER V--MAMIE'S DEVICE |CONSIDINE was married in May. For four months Badeau heard of him and Mamie only in a roundabout way. One day, toward the dose of September, the two men met on the road. “Hello, Hunch,” said Bruce, “how are you?” “All right. How's yourself?” “Fine. Why ain't you been round to see us. We're keeping house.” “I dunno. Ain't had much time.” “How're you getting along, anyhow, Hunch? How's the old Dean?” “First-class.” “Well, say, come up and see us. Come to-night. Mamie was asking about you the other day.” Badeau spent a long evening at Bruce's cottage, and had a good time. A week later he went again. Through the autumn, as the weather grew heavy, and lake trips became more uncertain, he took to spending the evening with them as often as he could. Mamie was prettier than ever, with a new depth in her eyes, and Bruce appeared very well as the head of a household. They played cards a good deal, and talked about old times. After a while Hunch found it easy to drop in and take supper with them. One evening late in October, when he came in to supper, he missed the usual cordiality. Mamie's eyes were red and Bruce's manner was strained. He left early and Bruce walked out with him, saying that a little walk would do him good. “Say, Hunch,” he said, when they reached the sidewalk, “I don't know whether you heard about it, but----” “About what?” “Well, it ain't any of my feelings, Hunch, but you can't help people talking. You see, there's some folks that don't understand things, and they're talking a little, you know, about your being around to the house so much--r-” They walked on, both silent. “Of course, Hunch, it ain't what I think, you see that.” Again he waited for a reply. “I'll tell you, Hunch, Maine and I've been talking it over. She's a good friend of yours, and she says if you stop coming, just because people talk, she'll never forgive you. She's right, too. And we was thinking, mebbe we'd have one of the girls around. Say, ain't there nobody you like pretty well, Hunch? There's Jess Bartlett, now. She's an awful nice girl. And she's stuck on you, Hunch. She's Jim Bartlett's sister, you know. He's on the life-saving crew. Marne's been talking with her, and she says she'll come around with you tomorrow night, if you'll go get her. Will you?” Hunch wanted to say no, but he looked around at Bruce, and some of his anger left him when he saw how eager and friendly was Bruce's face. So he replied: “Guess so.”