212
JUDSON JEROME
these still moments--and he realized with a rush of blood how much
he had lost in his haste, how
his
insatiable lust for success had con–
sumed his spirit, how much each day required time such as
this,
on
the gallery, washed by the salty evening breeze, observing (and
his
mind relished the word, repeating it: observing) the ruddy-bellied
high clouds and evening's wide tranquillity. Perhaps he should stop
by here each evening, until he could get the radio fixed, to regain
his
touch with wheeling gulls and the common people, he thought,
sipping
his
bitter drink.
"Going to leap?" asked an insinuating voice at his elbow, and
Everett turned just in time to see the quavering (unshaven)
chin
lowering. He looked down the precipice in horror, in spite of
his
insurance, thinking of the many loved ones who would be grieved.
He noticed a telephone booth about halfway down, a lighted glass
box, slightly tilted, as though it had been dropped and had landed
miraculously intact.
"I was thinking of calling my wife," he said.
"She
will
never hear you."
"But
if
I could reach that booth ..."
"It
is so far down!"
"Why don't you
try
the stairs?"
"I had forgotten about them."
"Wait. I'll follow you."
"Gladly," said the man. "I am always eager to assist a person,"
he added, raising
his
voice so that the bartender would overhear,
"who is motivated by domestic, commercial or patriotic considera–
tions." He shuffled back to
his
table, drained
his
mug, took
his
three–
cornered hat off a peg, pulled up a trap-door in the floor of the
gallery, and disappeared down a steep, iron, circular stair which
wound around a central pole.
As
Everett's head ducked beneath the gallery floor the sea
breeze whipped
his
hair and tie, riffled through his clothing like girls
frisking him for money. Instinctually he reached for his wallet, which
was safe. Just then he heard the clank of, he speculated, his mug,
which must have been blown off the rail by a sudden
gust.
He looked
up to see the fizzy liquid drip through the floor boards, strands of
egg white extending themselves like spiders lowering on filaments
of web. He was getting wet. He turned up his coat collar.
