U.S.A_ - John Dos Passos [203]
So Joe had to go over to Georgetown after al to find out where Janey was. Mommer was in and his kid sisters and they were al talking about how they were going to have the house remodeled with the ten thousand dol ars from the Old Man's insurance and they wanted him to go up to Oak Hil to see the grave, but Joe said what was the use and got away as soon as he could. They asked al kinds of questions about how he was getting on and he didn't know what the hel to tel 'em. They told him where Janey lived but they didn't know when she got out of her office. He stopped at the Belasco and bought some theatre
tickets and then went back to the Riggs Building. He got there just as Janey was stepping out of the elevator. She was nicely dressed and had her chin up with a new little cute independent tilt. He was so glad to see her he was afraid he was going to bawl. Her voice was different. She had a quick chil y way of talking and a kidding manner she'd never had before. He took her to supper and to the theatre and she told him al about how wel she was getting on at Dreyfus and Carrol and what interesting people she was getting to know. It made him feel. like a bum going around with her.
Then he left her at the apartment she had with a girl friend and took the car back to the station. He settled down and smoked a cigar in the smoker of the day-coach. He felt pretty blue. Next day in New York he looked up a guy he knew and they went out and had a few drinks and found 'em some skirts and the day after that he was sitting on a bench in Union Square with a headache and not a red cent in his jeans. He found the stubs of the tickets to the show at the Belasco theatre he'd taken Janey to and put them careful y in the cigarbox with the other junk.
-58-Next boat he shipped on was the North Star bound for St. Nazaire with a cargo listed as canned goods that every-body knew was shel caps, and bonuses for the crew on account of the danger of going through the zone. She was a crazy whaleback, had been an oreboat on the Great Lakes, leaked so they had to have the pumps going half the time, but Joe liked the bunch and the chow was darn good and old Cap'n Perry was as fine an old seadog as you'd like to see, had been living ashore for a couple of years down at Atlantic Highlands but had come back on account of the big money to try to make a pile for his daughter; she'd get the insurance anyway, Joe heard him tel the mate with a wheezy laugh. They had a smooth winter crossing, the wind behind them al the way right til they were in the Bay of Biscay. It was very cold and the sea was dead calm when they came in sight of the French coast, low and sandy at the mouth of the Loire. They had the flag up and the ship's name signal and Sparks was working overtime and they sure were nervous on account of mines until the French patrol boat came out and led the way through the winding channel into the river between the minefields. When they saw the spires and the long rows of grey
houses and the little clustered chimney pots of St. Nazaire in the smoky dusk the boys were going round slapping each other on the back and saying they sure would get cockeyed this night.
But what happened was that they anchored out in the stream and Cap'n Perry and the First Mate went ashore in the dingy and they didn't dock til two days later on ac-count of there being no room at the wharves. When they did get ashore to take a look at the mademosels and the vin rouge, they al had to show their seaman's passports when they left the wharf to a redfaced man in a blue uni-form trimmed with red who had a tremendous pair of pointed black moustaches. Blackie Flannagan had crouched tremendous pair of pointed black moustaches. Blackie Flannagan had crouched
-59-down behind him and somebody was just going to give him a shove over his back when the Chief yel ed at them from across the street, "For Chris' sake, can't you c-----s see that's a frog cop? You don't want to get run in right on the wharf, do you?" Joe and Flannagan got separated from the others and walked