High Time by Mary Lasswell Read Free Book Online Page B

wouldn’t have felt exactly happy to have Johnny walk in on her about that time. There was something vulgar about a fellow making a door out of a window in a hurry. Until this minute she had never realized quite how shoddy it really was.
    ‘Our Darleen’s in a brown study! Thinking of the beloved, no doubt!’ Miss Tinkham was the first to break the silence.
    Mrs. Feeley pounded Darleen on the back.
    ‘Snap out of it, girl! I’m a preachin’ ol’ fool! Don’t mind me! We think you’re a good kid, an’ we like you!’
    ‘You got the prettiest hair I ever seen,’ Mrs. Rasmussen said warmly. ‘Nice form, too!’
    ‘That lucky Johnny!’ Miss Tinkham said, ‘I hope you’ll pardon the familiarity, but I feel as if I knew the dear boy already! He is certainly to be congratulated on having such a lovely—ah—fiancée! Though not given to betting, I am willing to wager we shall hear the chime of wedding-bells before the year is out!’
    Darleen waved a deprecating hand.
    ‘Johnny’s got ideels! He wouldn’t marry me!’
    ‘Well, he sure as hell won’t, unless you start actin’ like you thought he would!’ Mrs. Feeley said positively.
    ‘’Course,’ Mrs. Rasmussen added, ‘you couldn’t just jump into it, an’ go on playin’ the field like you been doin’. Once you was hitched with the bell an’ the book—you’d sure have to cut out all them other guys!’
    ‘I know that!’ Darleen agreed. ‘Bein’ married is sure a sacred thing, awful big responsibility. I’ve had a few chances, but I knew the guys had their fingers crossed, and expected me to have mine crossed too! But I wouldn’t play the game that way. If I ever give that step, it’ll be for good and always—that’s why I couldn’t give the step unless I felt sure I could make the grade!’
    ‘An admirable attitude!’ Miss Tinkham said.
    ‘But you do like this here Johnny better’n them others, don’t you?’ Mrs. Feeley probed.
    ‘Oh sure! I love Johnny. Him and me get along swell! You wouldn’t guess he was no merchant sailor—no torpedo target, he calls it. He looks almost like a college boy except for a few tattoos and they aren’t noticeable with his clothes on.’ Darleen’s eyes lighted as she described her friend.
    ‘We sure wanna make his acquaintance the next tune he comes in,’ Mrs. Feeley said cordially.
    ‘Would it be all right?’ Darleen asked incredulously.
    ‘I’d like to know why not!’ Mrs. Feeley exclaimed.
    ‘Well, I just thought—’
    ‘You know what thought did!’ Mrs. Rasmussen said, and wisely let the matter drop right there.
    Gee, I got to go now! I’m almost late for work,’ Darleen said, as she looked at a fancy wrist watch worn nearer to the elbow than the wrist.
    ‘Johnny give you that?’ Mrs. Feeley asked.
    Darleen nodded.
    ‘My! He sure thinks a lot of you!’ Mrs. Rasmussen said admiringly. Darleen was actually beginning to think he did, at that.
     

Chapter 5
     
    S ATURDAY NIGHT the ladies set out from Noah’s Ark about half-past eight. In honor of the occasion Mrs. Feeley had on a cool dimity dress and her nice canvas pumps that she kept for best. Mrs. Rasmussen wore a neat blue-and-white striped seersucker—a shirtmaker affair. Her sausage curls were arranged with geometrical exactness. Miss Tinkham had gone all out for glamour, and wore her best rayon knit suit. The skirt was a good sixteen inches longer than the current fashion, but everyone knew how knitted fabrics raveled when cut, and besides the material was so handsome! She could always take a reef in the elastic waistband of the skirt if it got too long, as it was prone to do at the end of a large evening. The sweater top was a dazzling affair embroidered in sequins and crystal beads. The bright green of the suit was a trifle marred by large rusty circles under the arms. Miss Tinkham was annoyed at the original owner of the suit for being unfastidious about dress-shields. If she kept her arms close to her sides the