Properties
- end_line
- 2235
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-27T17:15:40.754Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 2191
- text
- 2098 13
2099 I walked all the way back to the hotel. Forty-one gorgeous blocks. I didn't do it
2100 because I felt like walking or anything. It was more because I didn't feel like getting in
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2101 and out of another taxicab. Sometimes you get tired of riding in taxicabs the same way
2102 you get tired riding in elevators. All of a sudden, you have to walk, no matter how far or
2103 how high up. When I was a kid, I used to walk all the way up to our apartment very
2104 frequently. Twelve stories.
2105 You wouldn't even have known it had snowed at all. There was hardly any snow
2106 on the sidewalks. But it was freezing cold, and I took my red hunting hat out of my
2107 pocket and put it on--I didn't give a damn how I looked. I even put the earlaps down. I
2108 wished I knew who'd swiped my gloves at Pencey, because my hands were freezing. Not
2109 that I'd have done much about it even if I had known. I'm one of these very yellow guys. I
2110 try not to show it, but I am. For instance, if I'd found out at Pencey who'd stolen my
2111 gloves, I probably would've gone down to the crook's room and said, "Okay. How 'bout
2112 handing over those gloves?" Then the crook that had stolen them probably would've said,
2113 his voice very innocent and all, "What gloves?" Then what I probably would've done, I'd
2114 have gone in his closet and found the gloves somewhere. Hidden in his goddam galoshes
2115 or something, for instance. I'd have taken them out and showed them to the guy and said,
2116 "I suppose these are your goddam gloves?" Then the crook probably would've given me
2117 this very phony, innocent look, and said, "I never saw those gloves before in my life. If
2118 they're yours, take 'em. I don't want the goddam things." Then I probably would've just
2119 stood there for about five minutes. I'd have the damn gloves right in my hand and all, but
2120 I'd feel I ought to sock the guy in the jaw or something--break his goddam jaw. Only, I
2121 wouldn't have the guts to do it. I'd just stand there, trying to look tough. What I might do,
2122 I might say something very cutting and snotty, to rile him up--instead of socking him in
2123 the jaw. Anyway if I did say something very cutting and snotty, he'd probably get up and
2124 come over to me and say, "Listen, Caulfield. Are you calling me a crook?" Then, instead
2125 of saying, "You're goddam right I am, you dirty crooked bastard!" all I probably would've
2126 said would be, "All I know is my goddam gloves were in your goddam galoshes." Right
2127 away then, the guy would know for sure that I wasn't going to take a sock at him, and he
2128 probably would've said, "Listen. Let's get this straight. Are you calling me a thief?" Then
2129 I probably would've said, "Nobody's calling anybody a thief. All I know is my gloves
2130 were in your goddam galoshes." It could go on like that for hours. Finally, though, I'd
2131 leave his room without even taking a sock at him. I'd probably go down to the can and
2132 sneak a cigarette and watch myself getting tough in the mirror. Anyway, that's what I
2133 thought about the whole way back to the hotel. It's no fun to he yellow. Maybe I'm not all
2134 yellow. I don't know. I think maybe I'm just partly yellow and partly the type that doesn't
2135 give much of a damn if they lose their gloves. One of my troubles is, I never care too
2136 much when I lose something--it used to drive my mother crazy when I was a kid. Some
2137 guys spend days looking for something they lost. I never seem to have anything that if I
2138 lost it I'd care too much. Maybe that's why I'm partly yellow. It's no excuse, though. It
2139 really isn't. What you should be is not yellow at all. If you're supposed to sock somebody
2140 in the jaw, and you sort of feel like doing it, you should do it. I'm just no good at it,
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