S44
PARTISAN REVIEW
his person a regular pig-sticker; but he failed to mention that this
weapon had never filled any other function than that of a pocket
knife. In reality, when he thought of this adventure in his solitary
brooding, it was always with a touch of melancholy, sometimes even
with regret that circumstances had not spared him the necessity of
taking the man's life. Nevertheless, this evening he relived the moment
with a sort of pleasure in each detail. The mental pictures of the steep
height, of the sergeant, and of the Turkish soldier were overlaid
by a woman's face, and the memory of a quarrel, still warm, still
poignant, filled him with a desire for violence. Unconsciously, his
eyes were searching everywhere for the figure of a man to verify
his memories.
"Formosa.... Taiwan.... Foutcheou.... " the proprietress
was spelling out the words.
A woman, wearing a full black skirt and a black shawl, entered
the cafe, and stooped to take the arm of the riverman.
"Come, Papa, it's half past six. Supper time. The hot water
bottle is already in your bed."
After their departure, the regular customers of the establish–
ment exchanged remarks about the life of the old man, and about
his campaign in China. Two men debated the question: Do the
Chinese customarily eat the eyes of their dead, or do they not?
Others, taking the age of the bargeman as a point of departure, were
trying to
fix
the date of his campaign. The name of Admiral Courbet,
which often figured in the old man's monologues, was brought into
the conversation, and Martin, who up to this time had been silent,
announced in an aggressive tone, presuming on his experience as a
combatant in the Dardanelles, that all admirals were sons of bitches.
The violence of his tone surprised his hearers and started them to
thinking. They believed they saw in his words a reference to the
current political situation, in which the admirals were playing a part.
"Why do you say that? Of whom are you thinking?" a voice
replied.
"I'm thinking of admirals, that's who. Nobody here happens to
be an admiral, I guess."
"I get the idea," said a voice, and from the other end of the
counter a crazy chap with a black eye rushed at Martin to start a
fight with him. Martin did not know what idea the other had gotten,
