30
SANFORD FRIEDMAN
throwing it from the wrist the way he, Stephen, did-when Mommy
entered the room.
"What are you doing, sweetheart?" she inquired tenderly.
"Playing."
"You know, my love,
~e
have to think about packing soon.
We're going home on Wednesday-remember? You ought to start
sorting out your collection."
"Sorting?"
"I mean, for instance, you don't want to take something like
this, this old mussel, back to New York, do you?"
"Yes."
"But it smells. So do these devil's purses. Don't you want to
leave them here?"
"No."
"All right, darling, do as you like, but find a box to put them
in." Harriet smoothed down Stephen's golden hair. "You know, my
love, no matter what anyone says, Mommy knows you aren't stupid."
Stephen squeezed his mother's hand between his cheek and shoulder,
as they watched Roggie dash across the lawn to catch a high throw.
But just as the ball was about to nest into his mitt, Clarry appeared
on the front steps and he fumbled it.
" 'Scuse me, gentlemens. I just thought
his
royal highness would
like to know the burnin' hulk of the
M-o-r-r-o Castle
is
bein' towed
toward Sandy Hook."
"What did Clarry say?" Stephen asked.
"Saul, what did Clara just say?" Mommy called through the
window.
"I don't know. Something about the
Morro Castle."
"Pay no attention. She was only taking revenge on me," Roggie
said, tossing the retrieved ball back to Daddy.
In the course of the day interest in the fate of the burning
vessel intensified. By noon the Seaside Ladies Conservation Com–
mittee had rallied its forces and was making a door-to-door collection
of rough-wear for the victims of the disaster. Emergency first-aid
stations were set up at Point Pleasant and Sea Girt for the care
of the survivors suffering from shock. In the afternoon a fisherman
in Belmar discovered the body of a drowned woman floating near
the shore. All along the Jersey coast solemn crowds gathered in hopes
