PARTISAN REVIEW
91
and Herr Doktor, the Professor, my father; but you will never hear
Mother mention Moritz der Zwerg, yet Maurice the Dwarf was the
brightest of all. He turned Catholic, took his wife's name and taught
philosophy in France. The name of Maurice the Dwarf is never
mentioned by us. He was as small as Mamma; he barely scraped
five feet. And there was Aunt Thekla who wrote romances for
servant girls."
"Pfui! Trash!" said Mrs. Anderson: "but a so rich woman,
never mind."
After lunch, the table was laid with an embroidered cloth, the
tea things were set out; the chocolate cake put in the center. George,
when he had "appeared" the week before, had brought an iced
cake with cherries on top, which the two of them had eaten. Now it
was right to reciprocate, mere good manners.
"It is a nice cake," said the old woman: "yes, very nice,
chocolate is good. Of course, there are no cherries, but never mind;
it
is
nice as it is. Imagine, so poor! He had no coat, only a shirt with
no tie."
"And he had been in Holland," said Gilbert.
"Holland! What nonsense!" she cried angrily.
"Not in Wetstraat?"
"Tt, ttl Never mind. Who knows? People don't talk. I ask no
questions."
They lived on the ground floor, right on the lobby. Beyond their
front door, which was up two steps, was a considerable space, with
two lifts, one near them and one near the front door, the door–
man's desk, palms in tubs and in the middle a staircase. Immediately
to
the left of the building was a park built on a cliff face and
descending into Harlem. George came in a jacket, a tieless shirt,
cotton trousers, and sandshoes, a middle-sized man with a harassed
boy-face. He carried a big unframed painting. He rushed past
Gilbert, who opened the door, hurried along the L-shaped passage,
looking into the rooms, found a bedroom to the left, ran in, opened
a cupboard door and placed the painting inside. Meanwhile, they
stood in the passage with welcoming smiles, dodging as he ran past
them. He came out of the bedroom saying:
"It's a painting someone gave me to sell. It'll be safe here. I've
