168
PARTISAN REVIEW
The memory was flat and he rejected it. He tried to think of his
pq.tients, but could think, instead, only of his office where something
was always wrong. The electricity unaccountably went off or the
water ran rusty or the windows got stuck. Today Miss Bellamy had
worn an artificial rose in her hair and he had already been so nervous
that the sight of it had nearly sent him into ·a tailspin.
He had a glass of brandy which quieted
his
fidgeting hands. The
smoke from the flat Egyptian Prettiest gave off a fragrance like sweet
wood, but tonight,
it
did not bring back Greta. Through the open
windows came sharply the sound of Mr. Horvath's voice warning
his
son who was clipping the hedge. "Watch out for snakes, Freddie."
The shears clicked steadily; the boy was a good worker. With his glass
in his hand, the doctor went to the window and stood beside it looking
out. The appalling grin had come back to Freddie's face in which
there were no signs of sorrow or even of anger. Once he stood up
straight to rest his back from its stooping position and the big clip–
pers dangled by their handle from
his
little finger.
Dr. Pakheiser went straight through the brandy and even then
had not had enough to drink, so he replaced the empty decanter
with the one half full of Kiimmel. He thought of the supper he soon
would eat and he began to wonder what the Horvath family had
upon their table. For some reason, he had an idea they were fond
of
mussel~
(which made him
ill)
and he was positive they enjoyed the
displeasing flavor of celeriac in their soup. They would have chunks
of fat meat; they would especially like rutabaga, watermelon, molasses,
pancakes and hot tamales. Again, he wondered if they ever bathed.
He had frequently seen Mrs. Horvath's wash hanging on the line in
the back yard and had been certain that she used neither soap nor
hot water in her loondry. He suspected that they did not brush their
teeth which were very long and extremely black. He did not, to tell
the truth, altogether understand why the United States had given Mr.
Horvath citizenship.
The sun went down and the heliocopters left the sky. At a little
before seven, the doctor heard a noise in his room and, conscious that
he was quite drunk, he allowed
.his
full lips to curl into a smile as he
thought of the pleasure Milenka would have if this were a mouse he
might catch for his first course. The sound came again, a faint rust–
ling. He thought at first it was in the closet, but then, at its repetition,
concluded that it was in the fireplace. Rather slowly, for his hands
were awkward, he took away the flowered screen and looked in at
the bare, clean hearth. The sound continued, close beside him. He
stuck his head in the opening and listened and it came again. There
