“Like I told you,” the doctor said, “we don’t have the facilities for giving transfusions, and he’s been moved plenty without you taking him to Memphis.”

Walking over to the party, so as not to use his car, making the only sounds in the dark wet street, and only partly aware of the indeterminate shapes of houses with their soft-shining fanlights marking them off, there with the rain falling mist-like through the trees, he almost forgot what town he was in and which house he was bound for.

Ruth, in a long dark dress, leaned against an open door, laughing. From inside came the sounds of at least two people playing a duet on the piano.

“He would come like this and get all wet!” she cried over her shoulder into the room. She was leaning back on her hands. “What’s the matter with your little blue car? I hope you brought us a present.”

He went in with her and began shaking hands, and set the bottle wrapped in the paper sack on a table

“He never forgets!” cried Ruth.

“Drinkin’ whisky!” Everybody was noisy again.

“So this is the famous ‘he’ that everybody talks about all the time,” pouted a girl in a white dress. “Is he one of your cousins, Ruth?”

“No kin of mine, he’s nothing but a vagabond,” said Ruth, and led Harris off to the kitchen by the hand.

I wish they’d call me “you” when I’ve got here, he thought tiredly.

“More has gone on than a little bit,” she said, and told him the news while he poured fresh drinks into the glasses. When she accused him of nothing, of no carelessness or disregard of her feelings, he was fairly sure she had not heard about the assault in his car.

She was looking at him closely. “Where did you get that sunburn?”

“Well, I had to go to the Coast last week,” he said.

“What did you do?”

“Same old thing.” He laughed; he had started to tell her about something funny in Bay St. Louis, where an eloping couple had flagged him down in the residential section and threatened to break up if he would not carry them to the next town. Then he remembered how Ruth looked when he mentioned other places where he stopped on trips.

Somewhere in the house the phone rang and rang, and he caught himself jumping. Nobody was answering it.

“I thought you’d quit drinking,” she said, picking up the bottle.

“I start and quit,” he said, taking it from her and pouring his drink. “Where’s my date?”

“Oh, she’s in Leland,” said Ruth.

They all drove over in two cars to get her.

She was a slight little thing, with her nightgown in some sort of little bag. She came out when they blew the horn, before he could go in after her. . . .