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night like this.”
    â€œNow I don’t mind too much, thinking of a warm house to come back to. My shoes do get soggy. Dirty shame—”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThat house. Now I could handle the like of Shutzey—”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œBut with Timy an’ all the rest taking it in hand over fist—Ah, well, will you be walking along, father?”
    â€œYes.”
    Then the two broad figures faded into the snow and the night.

T HEY walked to the club together, Timy and Mary White. By the time she got there, Mary knew that it would be a stag, but as yet she had no inkling of what she would have to do. The club always gave its big stag just before Christmas, and there was always some special novelty supplied by Shutzey. She hadn’t been to one before, but she had spoken to girls who had. They told tales that were as wild as they were sickening. It couldn’t be too bad, because men were only men, wherever you went.
    â€œYou’re Mary White, ain’t you?” Timy said to her, while they were walking.
    â€œYes, that’s my name.”
    â€œWell, you pull along with me tonight, an’ I’ll see you’re treated right. Maybe fifty bucks in it for you, and that ain’t bad for an evening, eh?”
    â€œWhat will I have to do?”
    â€œSame old stuff, like at Shutzey’s. Don’t you worry. You got a few hours yet, an’ I’ll send in some supper for you.”
    They went into Kraus’ saloon, and Timy nodded to Kraus, who stood behind the counter in a’ white apron, polishing small whisky glasses and chewing one end of his mustache. He nodded back at Timy, looked over Mary White, from head to foot, and grinned. Kraus was a huge, fat German, with folds of flesh going all the way from his shoulders to his cheeks. When he grinned, his face took on the appearance of a full moon, tiny eyes peering out of the flesh. Being a member of the regular club, he had an interest tonight in Mary White. He studied her carefully, from her ankles to her waist, to her breasts and her face; and his eyes followed her as she went into the back room with Timy.
    There were two men at the bar, Snookie Eagen and Tommy Wooly. Snookie Eagen was just a pimp, but Tommy Wooly was right up with Timy in the ward, beside which he followed the races. He dressed like a sport, in a brown derby, a black chesterfield, checked brown suit, and black patent leather shoes. He was chewing a toothpick, with which, every so often, he cleaned one of his nails.
    Now, after a single glance at Mary White, he turned back to Kraus and said: “Don’t lose yer peepers, Dutch.”
    â€œSuch a woman,” Kraus sighed.
    The door swung open, and a boy came in, his breath steaming. He might have been twenty-five or twenty-six, but he looked younger because his cheeks were all flushed and smooth with the cold. Nodding at the barkeeper, grinning at Tommy and Snookie, he walked over to the bar and ordered a small beer.
    â€œHello, Danny.”
    â€œWhat’s up, Danny?”
    â€œNothing much.”
    It paid to be nice to Danny, if you knew how Timy felt about him. He’d go a long way.
    â€œComin’ tonight?”
    â€œYeah. I had a date, but I guess I’ll be there. I’ll have a beer, then smooth out the date. Maybe I’ll be a little late.”
    â€œWe’ll save you something, Danny.”
    â€œSure, Danny.”
    â€œMake it a couple of beers.”
    â€œNaw, you wanna get laid tonight. Do yu good.”
    â€œAny way you say, boys.”
    Then Timy came out of the back room. He smiled when he saw Danny, came over and squeezed his hand.
    â€œI’m glad to see yu, kid.”
    â€œHow’re things, Timy?”
    â€œAwright, awright—I ain’t complaining. I ain’t a congressman yet, but wot the hell. You stick along, kid, and we’ll both have desks in the Senate.”
    â€œDon’t I know that,