672-
RAMON SENDER
first down into the street." And she felt grateful to the
adrnin~
istration for its foresight.
Mr. Arner wanted to go back to his joking and his defini–
tions of Cibola: "This is the most cosmopolitan state in the
union. Here one can find Spaniards, Englishm'efl, ArgentinianS,
Frenchmen, Canadians, Russian exiles, Italians, Greeks. And
even people from Brooklyn."
This, said with comical emphasis, made Matilda smile still,
but the first effect had worn off. And she was brooding: "Bob
hasn't sent me any flowers for exactly eighteen days." Arner
wanted to return to his jesting:
"Do you know how to dance the Varsoviana, Mrs. Strol–
heim?"
"No."
"Have you ever seen a saucer fly, in other words, a flying
saucer?"
"No, ·I haven't, doctor."
"Did you ever pass a truck in the highway carrying an
atomic bomb?"
"I don't know. You know we almost never leave the sana–
torium."
But Bob was on her mind and she could not see any con–
nection between her own presence in the sanatorium and the
poison mentioned by her recent dancing partner. When she at–
tempted it she wrinkled her brow, thinking: "Why was I going
to do a thing like that to Bob? To my first husband, I understand,
but why on earth to Bob?"
Still mulling this over she removed the shade from the lamp
with the pretext of putting it on at a better angle and the harsh
light fell on both their faces. She was motionless for a short while ·
as if posing for her portrait. A moth struck against the electric
bulb with a slight tinkling sound. Her eyes were fixed on some–
thing -above the head of the attorney 'whose face in the harsh
light had the color of a sweet potato. Just to be doing something
Arner picked up the negative and held it.against the light. She
