Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III ABOUT ten days later Tommy Rutherford walked into Hollister's room at eight in the evening. He laid his cap and gloves on the bed, seated himself, swung his feet to and fro for a second, and reached for one of Hollister's cigarettes. "It's a hard world, old thing," he complained. "Here was I all set for an enjoyable winter. Nice people in Vancouver. All sorts of fetching affairs on the tapis. And I'm to be demobilized myself next week. Chucked out into the blooming street with a gratuity and a couple of medals. Damn the luck." He remained absorbed in his own reflections for a minute, blowing smoke rings with meticulous care. "I wonder if a fellow could make it go in Mexico?" he drawled. Hollister made no comment. "Oh, well, hang it, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," he remarked, with an abrupt change of tone. "I'm going to a hop at the Granada presently. Banish dull care and all that, for the time being, anyway." His gaze came to an inquiring rest on Hollister. "What's up, old thing?" he asked lightly. "Why so mum?" "Oh, nothing much," Hollister answered. "Bad thing to get in the dumps," Rutherford observed sagely. "You ought to keep a bottle of Scotch handy for that." "Drink myself into a state of mind where the world glitters and becomes joyful, eh? No, I don't fancy your prescription. I'd be more apt to run amuck." "Oh, come now," Rutherford remonstrated. "It isn't so bad as that. Cheer up, old man. Things might be worse, you know. "Oh, hell!" Hollister exploded. After which he relapsed into sullen silence, to which Rutherford, frankly mystified and somewhat inclined to resent this self-contained mood, presently left him. Hollister was glad when the man went away. He had a feeling of relief when the door close...