“Hello, Bearcat,” said Joe, emphasizing his greetings with a resounding slap on the back.

The Bearcat straightened up from his work and thrust out a grimy hand. “Hello,” he said. “Glad to see you.”

“I want to talk to you a minute,” Joe said. “I just saw Babe and had a long talk wit’ her. She’s all broke up an’ worried about you.”

The Bearcat gave a grunt of disdain.

“Worried about me? She won’t even see me. Kerist! What did she have to say? Tell me. She don’t care a damn what happens to me. Who was with her? Who’s the guy she’s got? What she say?”

Joe stopped him with an upraised hand.

“Wait a minute! Jeeziz—you’re all shot to pieces! Take it easy. I’m tellin’ you there ain’t no other guy, Bearcat. The kid’s on the level. Any dame that’ll go an’ stand behind a counter in a Five an’ Ten like she’s doin’ has got plenty of guts an’ nerve. I felt rotten when I heard she was workin’ like that. An’ she looked worried too. She’s worryin’ about you, Bearcat.”

“Then what did she leave me for?” the Bearcat demanded to know. “I never looked at another skirt.”

“Well, women is funny sometimes like that,” Joe said wisely. “They make sacrifices for a guy they fall for. I t’ink she felt she was doin’ you no good. She was holdin’ you back. She sorter hinted that maybe Charlie was right when he kicked about you bein’ wit’ her. She t’ought if she got away from you, it’d give you a chance to make a comeback.”

The Bearcat shook his head.

“Me make a come-back without her? Never. I tell you, Joe, I’m goin’ nuts if I don’t see her.” The Bearcat trembled, nervously trying to light a cigarette. “Look at me, Joe. Can’t even light a cigarette. A wonder I don’t smash into somethin’ drivin’ this boat. Maybe I’d be better off if I did. Sometimes I feel like drivin’ into a stone wall and finishin’ it all.”

“I know how you feel,” Joe said soothingly, “an’ you got to snap out of it. You an’ me is goin to a training camp. You’re gonna make a come-back.”

The Bearcat’s eyes brightened for a moment at the idea and then became dull and despondent again.

“What’s the use? Nothin’ means anythin’ to me now, Joe, without her.”

Joe placed his hand on the Bearcat’s arm.

“You love the woman an’ you want her back, don’tcha? There’s only one way to get her an’ that’s for you to show her what you’re made of. You’ll be back in the money in no time and buyin’ her nice things again.”

“Maybe that’s all she ever wanted me for.”

Joe shook his head.