Not an actress. Not a bum. He couldn't place her and he was annoyed.
He peered at the ring through the jeweler's glass. "Hm," he said, "what are those?"
"What?" asked Lillian in alarm.
"The blue things."
"Sapphires."
"Yeh? Well, I'm not so young any more. I can't keep up with everything. I suppose they're a new kind of sapphire."
"Maybe," said Lillian innocently.
"They look like glass to me."
"Oh," she said. "The diamonds are all right, aren't they?"
For answer he tossed the ring on the round rubber pad. "I'll give you fifty dollars," he said. "I'm a fool to do it, but maybe it'll change my luck. Business is rotten in the heat."
He gave Lillian fifty dollars in five-dollar bills. She turned to walk out then, but he called her back.
"Don't you expect to redeem it?" he asked.
"What?"
"Don't you expect to get it out any more?"
"Yes. Sure I do. Why?"
"You'll need a ticket."
He made the ticket out for her with a large 50 on it in indelible ink. "Here," he said.
"Thank you."
"Performer?" he asked.
"What?"
"Are you a performer? Are you on the stage?"
