Sylvester dallied about Lena until he began
to make mistakes in his work; had to stay at
the bank until after dark to make his books
balance. He was daft about her, and every
one knew it. To escape from his predicament
he ran away with a widow six years older
than himself, who owned a half-section. This
remedy worked, apparently. He never looked
at Lena again, nor lifted his eyes as he cere-
moniously tipped his hat when he happened
to meet her on the sidewalk.

So that was what they were like, I thought,
these white-handed, high-collared clerks and
bookkeepers! I used to glare at young Lovett
from a distance and only wished I had some
way of showing my contempt for him.

[[232]]

p231 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p232w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p233

v?