He walked in.
No one appeared, and after ten minutes or so Bud guessed why, and went back to the door, pushed it wide open and permitted it to fly shut with a bang.

Whereupon a girl opened the door behind the counter and came in, glancing at Bud with frank curiosity.
Bud took off his hat and clanked over to the counter and asked if there was any mail for Bud Birnie--Robert Wallace Birnie.
The girl looked at him again and smiled, and turned to shuffle a handful of letters.

Bud employed the time in trying to guess just what she meant by that smile.
It was not really a smile, he decided, but the beginning of one.

And if that were the beginning, he would very much like to know what the whole smile would mean.

The beginning hinted at things.