WILLIAM GASS
357
masturbating, Father , when I barged in,
before Paster,
she sang,
a holy
Angel, anda great Prince,
and she said she was only trying out a con–
juration of Thursday that she ' d got from Madame Betz , and which
amused her ... amused her!
by all the names aforesaid, I conjure
three, Sachiel, a great Angel, who art the chiefruler ofThursday
,
that
forme thou labor,
Father listen to that-my god! Thursday-and he'd
lowered his fist like a flag at taps. A witch . A ghoul. Ha, never put a
broomstick between those thighs, though, no sir, no siree, she'd ride
nothing so phallic as that; she traveled in her mind, rode another
wind ; and he'd tell the Father how it was, and that although she was
spiritual
to
the point oflily-wilting , she wasn't spiritual in the churchly
chichi sort of way, on the contrary, she was the only cunt he ever knew
to
wear galoshes, the kind that buckle , that swallow your shoe, and he,
Hess , who sold insurance and knew about investments in a modest ,
even humble fashion-money, Father , is my metier-knew she put
great stock in all those lives she planned to lead beyond the grave, took
great store from them, took. . . tock. . . Who had his hat? He had his
hat . The feather and the felt. Then run for fun-he could do that .
Who would be missed, the missus or himself? The label and the
lining: silk . There was a sign above the hooks which always warned
him
to
watch his coat , and Hess would watch so wrathfully , on cele–
bration Sundays, sometimes, when they went out, he could have
swallowed worms and felt well fed, been none the wiser for a wedge of
mud. No, no , he'd have proud pie and royal cheese . And take a poster
boat to distant cities, see famous landmarks done in strident inks,
shape a shy smile of gratitude for the frank solicitations of dark and
unintelligible tongues. Then outdoors, what? leafy trees, new green, a
breeze . Play catch as catch can there . Watch. She might have been the
hook itself he ' d hung his hat from, her nose in the band above the
brim. Outdoors, what? not the rush and the roar of a wind but the light
lift , the almost imperceptible touch, of elevating air. For if Ella looks
before, I after, if I left who would replace me? the present has already
gone , though in a way it lay around his wrist still , keeping tabs,
perhaps more perfectly now it had no need to tick continually and mill
its hands or waste its face in darkness. Go. Though catch would come
after. Either. It's just that, well, he, Hess, her husband, was worried
about her chances since she lately seemed so sick and was this minute
stiffer than most corpses , open and empty-eyed , and he had noticed
