I thought he had risen to reach
down, as usual, the "Commonplace Book," and so waited, but instead
he went to the door and opened it, and in glided one of the largest
and most beautiful black tom-cats I have ever seen. It sprang on
Dick's knee with a soft "cur-roo," and sat there upright, watching
me, and I went on with my tale.
After a few minutes Dick interrupted me with:-
"I thought you said her name was Naomi?"
"So it is," I replied. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing," he answered, "only just now you referred to her as
Enid."
This was remarkable, as I had not seen Enid for years, and had
quite forgotten her. Somehow it took the glitter out of the
conversation. A dozen sentences later Dick stopped me again with:-
"Who's Julia?"
I began to get irritated. Julia, I remembered, had been cashier in
a city restaurant, and had, when I was little more than a boy,
almost inveigled me into an engagement. I found myself getting hot
at the recollection of the spooney rhapsodies I had hoarsely poured
into her powder-streaked ear while holding her flabby hand across
the counter.
"Did I really say 'Julia'?" I answered somewhat sharply, "or are
you joking?"
"You certainly alluded to her as Julia," he replied mildly.
Pages:
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250