II-V

After Lena came to Black Hawk I often met
her downtown, where she would be matching
sewing silk or buying "findings" for Mrs.
Thomas. If I happened to walk home with
her, she told me all about the dresses she was
helping to make, or about what she saw and
heard when she was with Tiny Soderball at
the hotel on Saturday nights.

The Boys' Home was the best hotel on our
branch of the Burlington, and all the com-
mercial travelers in that territory tried to get
into Black Hawk for Sunday. They used to
assemble in the parlor after supper on Satur-
day nights. Marshall Field's man, Anson Kirk-
patrick, played the piano and sang all the lat-
est sentimental songs. After Tiny had helped
the cook wash the dishes, she and Lena sat on
the other side of the double doors between the
parlor and the dining-room, listening to the
music and giggling at the jokes and stories.
Lena often said she hoped I would be a travel-
ing man when I grew up. They had a gay life of
it; nothing to do but ride about on trains all

[[193]]

p192 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p193w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p194

v?