"That's Old Man Wisner," says Henderson, the hotel manager, quiet, to
us, leaning over and pretending like he was fixing our flowers some
more. "Mrs. Wisner and young Mr. James Wisner are with him. You know, he
is one of the richest men here in Chicago--packing and banking, and all
that sort of thing. They are among our best people. They live up in
Millionaire Row."
"Yes, I know," says Bonnie Bell.
From where I set I could see them Wisners over at the other table. The
old man was big, with gray whiskers and gray hair, rather coarse. He had
big eyebrows and his eyes was kind of cross-looking, like his stomach
wasn't right. He was a portly sort of man--you've seen that kind. Some
is bankers and some packers and some brewers; they all look alike, no
matter what they are. They can't ride or walk.
This old party he didn't seem to be paying much attention to his wife,
and I don't know as I blame him. She may have had some looks once, but
not recent. They wasn't happy.
After a while the folks at that table got up and went on out before we
was done with our dinner, which was going strong at the end of a couple
of hours--there wasn't anything in the whole wide world we didn't have
to eat except ham shank and greens. At that, we had a right good time.
By and by it got to be maybe eleven o'clock, and Bonnie Bell turns down
her long white gloves, which she had tucked the hands of them back into
the wrists.
"Shall I call your car, Mr. Wright?" ast the manager, Mr. Henderson.
"I don't know," says Old Man Wright. "Have we got a car, sis?"
"Yes, papa," says she--she mostly said "papa" when folks was round;
don't overlook it that Old Man Smith turned out girls with real class.
She didn't talk like her pa and me neither.
"Yes, papa," says she now. "I was going to surprise you about our car;
it's been on hand for a week. I employed a driver and told him to be
ready for us about now." You see all our things had gone out to the new
house.
We all three of us helped Bonnie Bell on with her coat. She picked up
her muff and we all went out. I don't think any man in the place that
had brass buttons forgot that Christmas Eve.
The tall man in front at the door, like a drum major in a band, he knew
us well enough by now; he opens the door for us and we stand there,
looking out.
I said it was cold in Chicago and it was shore cold that night. It was
snowing--snow coming in off the lake slantwise, like a blizzard on the
plains. You couldn't hardly see across the walk. Out beyond the awning,
which covered the sidewalk, we could see our new car--a long, shiny one
with lights inside and lamps all over it, red, white and blue, or maybe
green. There was a couple of men on the front seat outside--I don't know
when the kid had hired them. They was both wrapped up in big fur
overcoats, which they certainly did need that night, since they couldn't
ride in the e-limousine, like us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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