Mr. Thomas

Mr. Thomas belongs to the revolving cast of suburbanites whose homes Grace and her husband visit in Ring Lardner's small-town social circuit, where card games, beer, and door-to-door calls structure the evenings. He answers his own door and, like Mr. Hamilton before him, jumps to the wrong conclusion about Grace's errand, a small comic beat that exposes how easily these neighbors misread one another. His brief appearance reinforces the story's running joke about suburban hospitality and the muddled transactions that pass for sociability.