Withal they saw of him that he had no doubt but that they should come to their above on the morrow,

In Hammett's writings, the social is constructed as a vast Hobbesian landscape of grim functionaries and desperate scrabblers[…]

Now, a wise man will tell him that he playeth the fool, for the ale-pole doth but signifie that there is good ale in the house where the ale-pole standeth, and will tell him that he muste go near the house and there he shall find the drinke,, and not stand sucking the ale-pole in vayne."

It is typical for adolescents to respond to the doldrums, feeling dead or numb inside, by sleeping a lot, watching hours upon hours of television, holing up in their room for days on end.