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Of course, the poor dog never knows it was about to be pounced on and wags on down the street.

Cat lets his tail go to sleep then and sneers.

Between weathercasts I hear him purring, loud rumbly purrs, and I look up and see Tom there, stroking Cat's fur up backward toward his ears.

Tom is looking out into the street and sort of whistling without making any sound.

"Gee, hi!" I say.

"Hi, too," he says.

He strokes Cat back down the right way, gives him a pat, and sits down.

"I just been down to see your dad. He's quite a guy."

"Huh-h-h? You got sunstroke or something? Didn't he read you about ten lectures on Healthy Living, Honest Effort, Baseball, and Long Walks with a Dog?"

"No-o-o." Tom grins, but then he sits and stares out at the street again, so I wait.

"You know," he says, "you give me an idea. You talk like your dad is a real pain, and that's the way I always have felt about mine. But your dad looks like a great guy to me, so—well, maybe mine could be too, if I gave him a chance. Your dad was saying I

"Should what? You should go home?"

"No. Your dad said I ought to write him a long letter and face up to all the things I've goofed on. Quitting NYU, the cellar trouble, all that. Then tell him I'm going to get a job and go to night school. Your dad figures probably he'd help me. He said he

I try to digest all this, and it sure is puzzling.

The time I ran down that crumb of a doorman on my bike, accidental on purpose, I didn't get any long understanding talks.

I just got kept in for a month.

Tom slaps me in the middle of the back and stands up.

"Hilda's gone back to work at the coffee shop. I guess I'll go down and see her before the lunch rush, and then go home and write my letter."

"Say 'Hi' for me."

"O.K. So long."

* * * * *

The weather cools off some, and Pop starts to talk about vacation.

He's taking two weeks, last of August and first of September, so I start shopping around for various bits of fishing tackle and picnic gear we might need.

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