So Rosie, seeing George happy, could only sigh, hoping it wasn't
cheating on her part not to tell him the truth. Except for this scruple
of conscience, she was very happy herself. Her little world was jogging
comfortably along: Geraldine was well; for Janet McFadden life seemed to
be brightening; and for Janet as well as Rosie the waning summer was
affording many treats. Janet's cousin, Tom Sullivan, was making a good
deal of money on summer jobs and was squandering his earnings lavishly
on his two lady friends.
"Just think, Rosie," Janet announced one day, "Tom wants to give us
another picnic! You know I've always told you how generous he is."
"I know he is," Rosie agreed. "Tom sure is nice. It wouldn't surprise me
one bit if he grows up as nice as Jarge Riley. What's this new picnic,
and when is it to be?"
"For Labour Day. He says he'll pay Jackie to take your papers and that
you and me and him will all go downtown to the parade. After the parade
we'll eat supper at a restaurant and after that we'll go to the movies."
Janet paused, then concluded impressively: "He made two whole dollars
last week and he's willing to blow in every cent of it on us!"
"You don't say so!" Rosie shook her head and clucked her tongue in
amazement as deep as Janet's own.
"You'll come, won't you, Rosie?"
Rosie hesitated. "I'll come if I can. I mean I will if Jarge Riley
hasn't something on. If he's off on Labour Day afternoon, of course
he'll want me and I'll have to be with him."
"Of course," Janet agreed. "But maybe he won't get off. I wonder how
soon he'll know?"
"I'll ask him tonight," Rosie promised. "Let's see: today's Thursday and
Labour Day's next Monday. I ought to be able to let Tom know early on
Saturday."
"I think I'm going to be off," George told her that night in answer to
her inquiry. "I switch around to a late run tomorrow night, but I won't
know until tomorrow whether I'm going to keep it regular. What do you
want to do tomorrow night? Ride down with me on my last trip? Then we'd
stop and get a soda on the way home."
"Thank you, Jarge, I think that would be very nice. And you can write me
a little note about Labour Day and hand it to me when I get on the
car."
George's face fell. "Won't talking be good enough?"
"No, Jarge, it'll be better to write. You're doing beautifully in your
letters but you must keep them up."
George sighed but murmured an obedient: "All right."
The next evening Rosie was at the corner in good time and, promptly to
the minute, George's car came by. It was an open summer car with seats
straight across and an outside running board. Rosie climbed into the
last seat, which was so close to the rear platform where George stood
that it was almost as good as having George beside her. When there were
no other passengers on the same seat, George could lean in and chat
sociably.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account