THE CHILD IS THE MEANING
277
different shades of egotism which she called selfishness.
"No matter what
is
wrong with me," said Seymour, "I am not
a
fool."
"Everyone
is
a fool," said his mother, "practically everyone
is
a fool."
"Maybe," said Seymour, "but I am not a dumb-bell. That's the
kind of fool that James is. Every time something happens he makes
a speech about how he predicted the whole thing five years ago. He
thinks he predicted everything in th.e last twenty-five years."
These discussions were inspired by the recurring conflict between
Seymour and James.
"Just keep out of his way," said Rebecca to her brother. "Re–
member it is for Mamma's sake."
Again and again James demanded that Rebecca come with him
to a different apartment so that he would not have
to
endure the
daily presence of
his
mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Rebecca
postponed matters, she did not argue with her husband, she knew he
would forget his desire to be alone for a time, and that when it re–
curred, he could again be put off. Seymour made a slim contribution
to the support of
his
mother and himself by means of his new job,
the job of collecting the balance on magazine subscriptions. He was
paid on a commission basis and it was a difficult job, but it permitted
him
to work in the afternoons and not in the mornings. Rebecca felt
that he had improved to some extent because he did not gamble
with the money he had collected. They did not know that the reason
was not an improvement in character, but the smallness of the sums
and the curious change in Seymour's emotions: he no longer believed
in his luck.
(The second part of this story will appear in the next issue.)
