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She paused. “He’s just the same as you—never seems to fancy the sort of girl that he can pick up.” She bent a hostile eye upon the single ladies sitting at their tables all alone. “And there’s some that don’t take much picking up, either.” She paused. “We always used to do things together when he was home, and it was lovely seeing him again.”

The evening was drawing to a close. I was tired and ready for my bed and I had the suspicion of a headache which I wasn’t anxious to provoke. “I’m going home in a little while,” I said. “Would you like something from the soda fountain before I go? An ice, or anything?”

The hard, painted harridan of our first meeting had merged imperceptibly into the girl friend that she had spoken of. “That ’ld be lovely,” she said. “What can I have?”

“Anything you like,” I said, a little surprised. “What do you want?”

She hesitated. “Some of the things are rather expensive, you know.”

I had never had that said to me by any girl before. I smiled at her. “It’s nearly the end of my holiday,” I said quietly. “I’ve got a lot of money to blue before I go back home.” And she laughed, and said: “If that’s the way of it, I’ll have a banana split.”