More than that--he had been to tea at the judge's house fourteen
times, and seven times he had been asked by Lilian Drone to the
rectory when Zena was coming, and five times by Nora Gallagher to tea
at the doctor's house because Zena was there.

Altogether he had eaten so many meals where Zena was that his meal
ticket at the Mariposa lasted nearly double its proper time, and the
face of Sadie, the dining-room girl, had grown to wear a look of
melancholy resignation; sadder than romance.

Still more than that, Pupkin had bought for Zena, reckoning it
altogether, about two buckets of ice cream and perhaps half a bushel
of chocolate. Not that Pupkin grudged the expense of it. On the
contrary, over and above the ice cream and the chocolate he had
bought her a white waistcoat and a walking stick with a gold top, a
lot of new neckties and a pair of patent leather boots--that is,
they were all bought on account of her, which is the same thing.

Add to all this that Pupkin and Zena had been to the Church of
England Church nearly every Sunday evening for two months, and one
evening they had even gone to the Presbyterian Church "for fun,"
which, if you know Mariposa, you will realize to be a wild sort of
escapade that ought to speak volumes.


Yet in spite of this, Pupkin felt that the thing was hopeless: which
only illustrates the dreadful ups and downs, the wild alternations of
hope and despair that characterise an exceptional affair of this
sort.