her head and hooted •

"Be quiet!" Fran said, and laughed inspite of her caution. "These walls are paper-thin and the air's like crystal. One flick of sound on it and you can hear it resound for miles."

"Nuts,' #1 Sue said and broke the seal on the bottle.

"Shushing me grates like striking a match down my spine? Shushi hush! bo quiet!skut up! silence!" She braced herself and vaulted so that she was sitting up. "In simple language, 'Drop dead!'"

"Look, it's not as if we were a party of children."

"Other couples whoop it up sometimes,"

"Not two gals alme." Fran had to resist her over-cauti on some times and aware of it now she said: "We came here for a peaceful weekend, didn't wo?" And answering herself: "Woll, all right."

"Nuts, don't be happy, don't be gay, that's what you mean. Isn't it?"

"Just don't be a dunderhead."

"I've heard it before. Misery begets sympathy quicker than happiness, you said. Hell, who wants sympathy?"

"You'ro confusing sympathy with pity," Fran said. "when I say sympathy I mean an affinity. Harmony." Fran washed out the water glasses on the chest of drawers and polished them dry. Sho hold them up to the coleman lamp for inspection and ssid: "Yes, I do think misery gets sympathy quicker than Joy or whatever you want to callit. To somo people happiness is synonymous with sin."

Fran set the glasses down and Sue raised herself to pour. Then she snuggled back onto the bed holding the glass, relaxed. "In the theatre," she said, "when I'm doing a tragedy, tears come easily, but by the same token the house isn't exactly quiet when I perform in a comedy."

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