Out my way we catch it. You folks here don’t know what hot weather is.”
“You’re from Milwaukee, aren’t you?”
“Indianapolis.”
“I knew it was somewhere out there. Is it a big place?” he asked curiously.
“Yes. You could put Altamont in one corner of it and never miss it.”
“How big is it?” he said eagerly. “How many people have you there?”
“I don’t know exactly—over three hundred thousand with the suburbs.”
He reflected with greedy satisfaction.
“Is it pretty? Are there a lot of pretty houses and fine buildings?”
“Yes—I think so,” she said reflectively. “It’s a nice homelike place.”
“What are the people like? What do they do? Are they rich?”
“Why—yes. It’s a business and manufacturing place. There are a lot of rich people.”
“I suppose they live in big houses and ride around in big cars, eh?” he demanded. Then, without waiting for a reply, he went on: “Do they have good things to eat? What?”
She laughed awkwardly, puzzled and confused.
“Why, yes. There’s a great deal of German cooking. Do you like German cooking?”
“Beer!” he muttered lusciously. “Beer—eh? You make it out there?”
“Yes.” She laughed, with a voluptuous note in her voice. “I believe you’re a bad boy, Eugene.”
“And what about the theatres and libraries? You have lots of shows, don’t you?”
“Yes. A lot of good shows come to Indianapolis. All the big hits in New York and Chicago.”
“And a library—you have a big one, eh?”
“Yes. We have a nice library.”
“How many books has it?”
“Oh, I can’t say as to that. But it’s a good big library.”
