The best short stories of 1922, and the yearbook of the American short story
General
The best short stories of 1922, and the yearbook of the American short story
American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories -- 20th century -- Bibliography; Short stories -- 20th century -- Indexes; Short stories, American
Well, I never saw a fellow treat any one sweller. There was a fat man
sitting beside the little girl that had looked at me twice by this
time, and I at her, and both blushing, and what did he do but have
the nerve to turn and ask the fat man to get up and change places
with me so I could set with his crowd.
Gee whizz, amighty. There I was. What a chump I was to go and get
gay up there in the West House bar, and just because that dude was
standing there with a cane and that kind of a necktie on, to go and
get all balled up and drink that whiskey, just to show off.
Of course she would know, me setting right beside her and letting her
smell of my breath. I could have kicked myself right down out of that
grand stand and all around that race track and made a faster record
than most of the skates of horses they had there that year.
Because that girl wasn’t any mutt of a girl. What wouldn’t I have
give right then for a stick of chewing gum to chew, or a lozenger, or
some licorice, or most anything. I was glad I had those twenty-five
cent cigars in my pocket, and right away I give that fellow one and
lit one myself. Then that fat man got up and we changed places and
there I was plunked right down beside her.
They introduced themselves, and the fellow’s best girl he had
with him, was named Miss Elinor Woodbury, and her father was a
manufacturer of barrels from a place called Tiffin, Ohio. And the
fellow himself was named Wilbur Wessen and his sister was Miss Lucy
Wessen.
I suppose it was their having such swell names got me off my trolley.
A fellow, just because he has been a swipe with a race horse, and
works taking care of horses for a man in the teaming, delivery and
storage business, isn’t any better or worse than any one else. I’ve
often thought that, and said it, too.
But you know how a fellow is. There’s something in that kind of nice
clothes, and the kind of nice eyes she had, and the way she had
looked at me, awhile before, over her brother’s shoulder, and me
looking back at her, and both of us blushing.
I couldn’t show her up for a boob, could I?
I made a fool of myself, that’s what I did. I said my name was Walter
Mathers from Marietta, Ohio, and then I told all three of them the
smashingest lie you ever heard. What I said was that my father owned
the horse About Ben Ahem, and that he had let him out to this Bob
French for racing purposes, because our family was proud and had
never gone into racing that way, in our own name, I mean. Then I had
got started and they were all leaning over and listening, and Miss
Lucy Wessen’s eyes were shining, and I went the whole hog.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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