Page:Bad Girl (1929).pdf/209

 Eddie squeezed her hand. "Got the saving habit, haven't you, Dot?" he asked.

"No kidding. I mean it."

"I'll walk you all the way home. How will that be?"

"I mean it, Eddie. I want to come home that way."

"How about the kid? Gonna stick him in a subway on a hot day?"

"Oh, he won't mind. He'll be asleep."

"Tell the truth, Dot, you forgot about the kid."

She hadn't. She had imagined him sleeping gamely through the uncomfortable ride which was the best his parents could afford. She had pictured him soft and pink in her arms, drawing astonished glances from the other passengers.

"You didn't forget about him," she challenged.

Eddie looked at her in amazement. Was she jealous that he had thought of the baby's discomfort and had treated hers lightly? Jealous of the baby? Good God! Well, this was no time to vex her.

"I can never forget about him," he said. "Never for a minute. How in hell can I?"

She sighed. If only Eddie wouldn't treat the baby like a dread something coming at them with slow certainty.

A dazzling bright shaft of moonlight fell across the shirtwaist box. Dot stared at it silently, admiring it. How pretty it was. Things like this could make her forget for the moment how great a trial this waiting was.

Edna came back from Asbury Park. Floyd had not been getting the proper food at their hotel. Soon afterward Sue and Pat returned from the beach. Pat had wearied of commuting from Far Rockaway to Washington Heights. Sue thought it very unkind of him and said so at every opportunity.

The Macys were amazed to find Dot still carrying her child. Their pleasant jeers at her delay angered her. She