He wanted to
brood, but he did not take to his old habit of long solitary
walks. Every afternoon he planned one for the evening; every
evening found that he "wanted to be around with folks."
He had a sort of youthful defiant despair, so he jested much at
the card-table, by way of practising his new game of keeping
people from knowing what he was thinking. He took sophisticated
pleasure in noting that Mrs. Arty no longer condescended to him.
He managed to imitate Tom's writing on a card which he left with
a bunch of jonquils in Nelly's room, and nearly persuaded even
Tom himself that Tom was the donor. Probably because he didn't
much care what happened he was able to force Mr. Mortimer R.
Guilfogle to raise his salary to twenty-three dollars a week.
Mr. Guilfogle went out of his way to admit that the letters to
the Southern trade had been "a first-rate stunt, son."
John Henson, the head of the Souvenir Company's manufacturing
department, invited Mr. Wrenn home to dinner, and the account of
the cattle-boat was much admired by Mrs.
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