She was watching Eddie closely. Her mouth was pursed up now, her expression one of penny-pinching miserliness. “If you’re hungry, you and your wife—well, there’s a job for you.”

Eddie put a dime on the counter and shook his head. “That would be a kind of big job in trade for a meal. Thanks anyway.”

“Now, wait a minute.” She swallowed a couple of times as if the next words were coming hard. “I ain’t said just trade for a meal. We need the ditch dug. We got to get it dug, somehow. Them damned plumbers want four dollars a hour.” By an instantly regretful expression, Eddie knew she wished she hadn’t parted with this bit of information. She stumbled around then and finally said, “How’s this—I’ll pay a dollar an hour. Two days if it takes that long.”

Eddie reached for the cup, downed the last of the coffee. “I’m sorry. It’s not enough.”

“Meals throwed in. You and your wife.”

They stared at each other measuringly. She was the kind of little old woman, Eddie thought, that if she’d been left on a farm all her life wouldn’t have known the time of day, but being exposed to the sharpers and chiselers among the touring public, was as sharp as a pin. “A dollar and a half an hour, I might think it over.”

She came back instantly, “Dollar’n’ a quarter. That’s my top limit.”

“Meals too? All we want?”

She peered out the window, probably trying to size up the girl in the car, wondering how much she’d eat. Eddie was big and, exposed to the labor of ditch-digging, could be expected to be ravenous. The little old lady gulped down some thrifty objections, nodded her head, and said, “It’s a bargain.”

Eddie hurried back to the car, opened the door on Karen’s side. “I’ve made a deal. We eat here. Order whatever you want.”

She brushed back her hair and looked at him in a dazed, indifferent manner. Eddie, knowing how she must feel, urged her out of the car. “You’ll feel a lot better when you eat. You’ll be surprised at what some hot coffee will do.”

A lot of anxiety went out of the old lady’s expression when she saw how small and slender Karen was. She drew a cup of coffee quickly, put it on the counter, took Eddie’s cup and refilled it. “Now,” she said, “Ham and? Toast?”