The next day he found himself talking it over with O-liver. "She wants
to sell them on Saturday nights."
"Tell her," said O-liver, "to stay at home."
"But she's got to have some money."
"Money," said O-liver, "is the root of evil. You say she has a garden.
Let her live on leeks and lettuce."
"Leeks and lettuce?" said poor Tommy, who had never heard of leeks.
"Her complexion will be better," said O-liver, "and her peace of mind
great."
"Her complexion is perfect," Tommy told him, "and she isn't the peaceful
kind. Her hair is red."
"Red-haired women"--O-liver had his eye on Vanity Fair--"red-haired
women always flaunt themselves."
Tommy, softening O-liver's words a bit, gave them in the form of advice
to Jane: "He thinks you'd better live on leeks and lettuce than go
down-town like that."
Jane gasped. "Leeks and lettuce? Me? He doesn't know what he's talking
about! And anyhow, what can you expect of a man like that?"