afternoon.

"He said he'd a mind to lick me, an' I bet he could 'a' done it,
too," the boy concluded.

"Lick you? Hunh!"

"Oh, he's hard-boiled! That's why I like him. He's been 'round the
world and speaks furrin language like a natif. That suit of clo's
was _made_ for him, an' he's got thirty others, all better 'n this
one. Shoes, too! Made special, in New York. Forty dollars a pair!"

"What's he doin' here if he's so rich?" It was the doubting female
of the species speaking. "Drummers is terrible liars."

Buddy flew to the defense of his hero. "He's doin' this to he'p a
friend. Told me all about it. I'm goin' to have thirty suits--"

"Shoes don't cost forty dollars. _Clo's_ don't cost that much."
Allie regarded her brother keenly, understandingly, then she said,
somberly, "It ain't no use, Buddy."

"What ain't?"

"It ain't no use to wish. Mebbe you can have thirty suits--if the
wells hold out, but they won't look like his. And me, too. We're
too big, Buddy, an' the more money we got, the more clo's we put
on, the more folks is goin' to laugh at us. It shames me to go
places with anybody but you."