She’s young. She’s full of life.”

“Oh, skip it!” said Buck sharply, looking at the raw cement. “Skip it, Doc, for God’s sake.”

The Doctor brushed his hand across his face. “Not everybody wants the same thing,” he said. “I’m a sort of dry fellow. I don’t open up very easily. Irene — you’d call her gay.”

“You said it,” said Buck.

“She’s no housekeeper,” said the Doctor. “I know it. But that’s not the only thing a man wants. She’s enjoyed herself.”

“Yeah,” said Buck. “She did.”

“That’s what I love,” said the Doctor. “Because I’m not that way myself. She’s not very deep, mentally. All right. Say she’s stupid. I don’t care. Lazy. No system. Well, I’ve got plenty of system. She’s enjoyed herself. It’s beautiful. It’s innocent. Like a child.”

“Yes. If that was all,” Buck said.

“But,” said the Doctor, turning his eyes full on him, “you seem to know there was more.”

“Everybody knows it,” said Buck.

“A decent, straightforward guy comes to a place like this and marries the town floozy,” Bud said bitterly. “And nobody’ll tell him. Everybody just watches.”

“And laughs,” said Buck. “You and me, Bud, as well as the rest.”

“We told her to watch her step,” said Bud. “We warned her.”

“Everybody warned her,” said Buck. “But people get fed up. When it got to truck-drivers — ”

“It was never us, Doc,” said Bud, earnestly.