Oh, yes, we did. And after dinner I'll be hanged if we ain't introduced to almost everybody in the hotel. It's a reg'lar reception, with folks standin' in line to shake hands with us. The old boy with the eye awnin's turns out to be an ex-Secretary of the Treasury; an antique with a patent ear-'phone has been justice of some State Supreme Court; and so on. Oh, lots of class to 'em. But after I'd been vouched for by someone they knew they all gives me the hearty grip, offers me cigars, and hopes I'm enjoyin' my stay. "And so you are a niece of dear Mrs. Hemmingway?" says old Parrot-Face, when her turn comes. "Think of that! And this is your husband!" And then she says how nice it is that some other young people will be up in the mornin'. That evenin' Judith gets busy plannin' things to do next day. "You haven't tried the toboggan chute?" says she. "Why, how absurd!" Yep, it was a big day, Saturday was. Half a dozen more young folks drifted in, includin' a couple of Harvard men that Vee knew, a girl she'd met abroad, and another she'd seen at a house-party. They was all live wires, too, ready for any sort of fun. And we had all kinds. Maybe we didn't keep that toboggan slide warm. Say, it's some sport, ain't it? Anyway, our honeymoon was turnin' out a great success. The Nixons concluded to stay over a few days, and three or four of the others found they could too, so we just went on whooping things up. Next I knew we'd been there a week, and was due to make a jump to Washington for a few days of sight-seein'. "I'm afraid that will not be half as nice as this has been," says Vee. "It couldn't," says I. "It's the reg'lar thing to do, though." "I hate doing the regular thing," says Vee. "Besides, I'm dying to see our little studio apartment and get settled in it. Why not--well, just go home?" "Vee," says I, "you got more good sense than I have red hair. Let's!" CHAPTER II VEE WITH VARIATIONS "But--but look here, Vee," says I, after I'd got my breath back, "you can't do a thing like that, you know." "But I have, Torchy," says she; "and, what is more, I mean to keep on doing it." She don't say it messy, understand--just states it quiet and pleasant. And there we are, hardly at the end of our first month, with the rocks loomin' ahead. Say, where did I collect all this bunk about gettin' married, anyway? I had an idea that after the honeymoon was over, you just settled down and lived happy, or otherwise, ever after. But, believe me, there's nothing to it. It ain't all over, not by a long shot. As a matter of fact, you've just begun to live, and you got to learn how. Here I am, discoverin' a new Vee every day or so, and almost dizzy tryin' to get acquainted with all of 'em. Do I show up that way to her? I doubt it. Now and then, though, I catch her watchin' me sort of puzzled.