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216 “No, he doesn’t say so. But there’s a new note in these.”

“Coffee,” repeated the Professor, patiently.

“For goodness’ sake, father, stop shouting coffee. You are the epitome of the irritating this morning.”

“I always am until I have my coffee.”

All day long Bambi thought about Jarvis’s “Street Songs.” It was not the things themselves. They were crude enough, in spots, but it was the new sense in Jarvis that made him see and understand human suffering. She felt an irresistible impulse to take the next train and go to him. Would he be glad to see her? For the first time she wanted him, eagerly. But the impulse passed, and weeks stretched into months. She worked steadily at the book, which grew apace. She loved every word of it. Sometimes she wondered what would become of her without that work, during this waiting time, while Jarvis was making his career. For, in her mind, she always thought of herself and her writing as a side issue of no moment. Jarvis’s work was the big, important thing in her life.

He wrote freely about his work on the other plays, asking her judgment and advice, as he had on “Success.” She gave her best thought and closest