482
PARTISAN REVIEW
archaic personage himself. He had never imagined the painter paint–
ing the canvas with a brush. It was the beginning of a new thought
about the picture.
Jennings answered with a modified version of the Latin gesture
of esteem, a single decisive shake of his lifted hand, thumb and fore–
finger touching in a circle.
Elwin acknowledged the answer with a nod but said nothing. He
did not want Jennings' admiration, even though he had asked for it.
Jennings would naturally give as much admiration to most of the
fine pictures in fine reproduction with which his shop was filled. At
that moment, Elwin was not interested in admiration or in art. But
he liked what Jennings said next.
"It
will give you a lot of satisfaction," Jennings said.
It
was ex–
actly as if he had just sold Elwin a suit or a pair of shoes.
Elwin l'aid, "Yes," a little hesitatingly, only politely agreeing,
not committing himself in the matter of his money's worth until it
should be proved.
,
From behind the partition that made Jennings' little office they
had been hearing a man talking on the telephone. Now the conver–
sation ended and a young soldier, a second lieutenant, came out into
the shop. Jennings said to him, "Did the call get through?" and the
young man said, "Oh yes, after some difficulty. It was eighty-five
cents. Let me pay you for it." "Oh nonsense," said Jennings, and took
him by the arm and quickly introduced him to Elwin as a cousin of his
wife's. The young man offered Elwin the hand that had been reach–
ing into his pocket and said, "I'm glad to meet you, sir."
He said
it
very nicely, with the niceness that new young offi–
cers are likely to have. Pleased with themselves, they are certain that
everyone will be nice to them. This young man's gold bar did a good
deal for him, did perhaps more than rank ought to have to do for a
man. He was not really much of a person . Yet Elwin, meeting him,
felt the familiar emotion in which he could not distinguish guilt from
envy. He knew it well, knew how to control it and it did not dim–
inish, not much, the sense of holiday he was having. The holiday
was made by his leaving his office a little early. He published scien–
tific books in a small but successful way and the war had made a
great pressure of work for him, but he had left his office early when
Jennings phoned that the picture was back from the framer's.
The young lieutenant was looking at the picture. He so clearly
did not like it that Jennings said quickly, "Mr. Elwin's just bought it."
The lieutenant regarded the picture thoughtfully. "Very nice,"
he said, with an enthusiastic and insincere 'shake of his head. He did
