By that time he had gulped down his coffee and
was into his coat, and looking for his hat. Marie,
crying and scolding and rocking the vociferous in-
fant, interrupted herself to tell him that she wanted
a ten-cent roll of cotton from the drug store, and
added that she hoped she would not have to wait
until next Christmas for it, either. Which bit of
sarcasm so inflamed Bud's rage that he swore every
step of the way to Santa Clara Avenue, and only
stopped then because he happened to meet a friend
who was going down town, and they walked to-
gether.

At the drug store on the corner of Second Street
Bud stopped and bought the cotton, feeling remorse-
ful for some of the things he had said to Marie, but
not enough so to send him back home to tell her he
was sorry. He went on, and met another friend be-
fore he had taken twenty steps.

This friend was thinking of buying a certain
second-hand automobile that was offered at a very
low price, and he wanted Bud to go with him and
look her over. Bud went, glad of the excuse to kill
the rest of the forenoon.

-12-