Then in came Lola with the glasses and oh boy, did we feast our eyes on her.  I’ll say we did.  She’d ordered up a new dress for the occasion, just an ordinary sort of black dress, very short, with the thinnest black silk stockings you’ve ever seen.  But safe inside that dress, the things her figure said to us all was nobody’s business.  No, sir.  No, sir!

I guess we all went pretty quiet, and there was more honest admiration in that back room for that little girl than for many a movie star stuffed with dollars and those mink affairs.  She must have realized it too, for it’s the only time I’ve ever seen her hesitate or look a bit shy.

“Like me?” she asked with a nervous little laugh, looking a bit small and lonesome; and at that, everyone started to shout at once, and old Dan pounded the table with rye bottle and broke the neck clean off.  Luckily, he didn’t spill much of it, but it just shows you the effect that kid had on   even the toughest of us.

Then we all snatched up the glasses and drank her health like a sloppy collection of teenagers.  One or two even forgot themselves and clapped her on the back, and she must have been black and blue for days after that.

As we quieted down a bit I thought, Lola, my girl, the man who marries you is going to spend the rest of his life thinking how lucky he is.  As I said, you can see what she did to us.