her sweetheart. Farther up his arm, her
sailor had come back and was kissing her.
'The Sailor's Return,' he called it."

I admitted it was no wonder Ole liked to
look at a pretty girl once in a while, with
such a fright at home.

"You know," Lena said confidentially,
"he married Mary because he thought she
was strong-minded and would keep him
straight. He never could keep straight on
shore. The last time he landed in Liverpool
he'd been out on a two years' voyage. He
was paid off one morning, and by the next
he hadn't a cent left, and his watch and com-
pass were gone. He'd got with some women,
and they'd taken everything. He worked
his way to this country on a little passenger
boat. Mary was a stewardess, and she tried
to convert him on the way over. He thought
she was just the one to keep him steady. Poor
Ole! He used to bring me candy from town,
hidden in his feed-bag. He couldn't refuse
anything to a girl. He'd have given away
his tattoos long ago, if he could. He's one
of the people I'm sorriest for."

If I happened to spend an evening with
Lena and stayed late, the Polish violin-teacher

[[320]]

p319 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p320w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p321

v?