THE LAST MOHICAN
177
"Not with ease, although I read
it
fluently. You might say I
need the practice."
"Yiddish?"
"I express myself best in English."
"Let it be English then." Susskind spoke with a slight British
intonation. "I knew you were Jewish," he said, "the minute my eyes
saw you."
Fidelman, who did not look particularly Jewish, chose to ignore
the remark. "Where did you pick up your knowledge of English?"
"In Israel."
Israel interested Fidelman. "You live there?"
"Once, not now," Susskind answered vaguely. He seemed sud–
denly bored.
"How so?"
Susskind twitched a shoulder. "Too much heavy labor for a
man of my modest health. Also I couldn't stand the suspense."
Fidelman nodded.
"Furthermore, the desert air makes me constipated. In Rome
I am light hearted."
"A Jewish refugee from Israel, no less," Fidelman said good
humoredly.
"I'm always running," Susskind answered mirthlessly.
If
he was
light hearted, he had yet to show it.
"Where else from, if I may ask?"
"Where else but Germany, Hungary, Poland? Where not?"
"Ah, that's so long ago." Fidelman then noticed the gray in
the man's hair. "Well, I'd better be going," he said. He picked up
his
bag as two porters hovered uncertainly nearby.
But Susskind offered certain services. "You got a hotel?"
"All picked and reserved."
"How long are you staying?"
What business is it of his? However, Fidelman courteously re–
plied, "Two weeks in Rome, the rest of the year in Florence, with
a few side trips to Sienna, Assisi, Padua and maybe also Venice."
"You wish a guide in Rome?"
"Are you a guide?"
"Why not?"
"No," said Fidelman. "I'll look as I go along to museums,
libraries, et cetera."
