第15章

Burnamypausedinaflowofautobiography，andmodestlywaitedforMissTriscoe’sprompting。Hehadnottowaitlong。

“Andthen，howsoondidyouthinkofprintingyourthingsinabook？”

“Oh，aboutassoonastheybegantotakewiththepublic。”

“Howcouldyoutellthattheywere-taking？”

“Theywerecopiedintootherpapers，andpeopletalkedaboutthem。”

“AndthatwaswhatmadeMr。Stollerwantyoutobehissecretary？”

“Idon’tbelieveitwas。Thetheoryintheofficewasthathedidn’tthinkmuchofthem；butheknowsIcanwriteshorthand，andputthingsintoshape。”

“Whatthings？”

“Oh——ideas。Hehasanotionoftryingtocomeforwardinpolitics。HeownssharesineverythingbuttheUnitedStatesSenate——gas，electricity，railroads，aldermen，newspapers——andnowhewouldlikesomeSenate。

That’swhatIthink。”

Shedidnotquiteunderstand，andshewasfarfromknowingthatthiscynichumorexpressedadeadlierpessimismthanherfather’sfiercestaccusalsofthecountry。“Howfascinatingitis！”shesaid，innocently。

“AndIsupposetheyallenvyyourcomingout？”

“Intheoffice？”

“Yes。Ishouldenvy，them——staying。”

Burnamylaughed。“Idon’tbelievetheyenvyme。Itwon’tbeallrosesforme——theyknowthat。ButtheyknowthatIcantakecareofmyselfifitisn’t。”HerememberedsomethingoneofhisfriendsintheofficehadsaidofthepainfulsurprisetheBirdofPreywouldfeelifheevertriedhisbeakonhiminthebeliefthathewassoft。

Sheabruptlyleftthemerepersonalquestion。“Andwhichwouldyouratherwrite：poemsorthosekindofsketches？”

“Idon’tknow。”saidBurnamy，willingtotalkofhimselfonanyterms。

“Isupposethatproseisthethingforourtime，rathermore；buttherearethingsyoucan’tsayinprose。Iusedtowriteagreatdealofverseincollege；butIdidn’thavemuchluckwitheditorstillMr。Marchtookthislittlepiecefor’EveryOtherWeek’。”

“Little？Ithoughtitwasalongpoem！”

Burnamylaughedatthenotion。“It’sonlyeightlines。”

“Oh！”saidthegirl。“Whatisitabout？”

Heyieldedtothetemptationwithaweaknesswhichhefoundincredibleinapersonofhismake。“Icanrepeatitifyouwon’tgivemeawaytoMrs。

March。”

“Oh，noindeed！”Hesaidthelinesovertoherverysimplyandwell。”

Theyarebeautiful——beautiful！”

“Doyouthinkso？”hegasped，inhisjoyatherpraise。

“Yes，lovely。Doyouknow，youarethefirstliteraryman——theonlyliteraryman——Ievertalkedwith。Theymustgoout——somewhere！Papamustmeetthemathisclubs。ButIneverdo；andsoI’mmakingthemostofyou。”

“Youcan’tmaketoomuchofme，MissTriscoe。”saidBurnamy。

Shewouldnotmindhismocking。“Thatdayyouspokeabout’TheMaidenKnight’，don’tyouknow，Ihadneverheardanytalkaboutbooksinthatway。Ididn’tknowyouwereanauthorthen。”

“Well，I’mnotmuchofanauthornow。”hesaid，cynically，toretrievehisfollyinrepeatinghispoemtoher。

“Oh，thatwilldoforyoutosay。ButIknowwhatMrs。Marchthinks。”

HewishedverymuchtoknowwhatMrs。Marchthought，too；’EveryOtherWeek’wassuchaverygoodplacethathecouldnotconscientiouslyneglectanymeansofhavinghisworkfavorablyconsideredthere；ifMrs。

March’sinterestinitwouldactuponherhusband，oughtnothetoknowjusthowmuchshethoughtofhimasawriter？“Didshelikethepoem。”

MissTriscoecouldnotrecallthatMrs。Marchhadsaidanythingaboutthepoem，butshelaunchedherselfuponthegeneralcurrentofMrs。March’slikingforBurnamy。“Butitwouldn’tdototellyouallshesaid！”

Thiswasnotwhathehoped，butbewasrichlycontentwhenshereturnedtohispersonalhistory。“Andyoudidn’tknowanyonewhen，youwentuptoChicagofrom——“

“Tippecanoe？Notexactlythat。Iwasn’tacquaintedwithanyoneintheoffice，buttheyhadprintedsomethingsofmine，andtheywerewillingtoletmetrymyhand。ThatwasallIcouldask。”

“Ofcourse！Youknewyoucoulddotherest。Well，itislikearomance。

Awomancouldn’thavesuchanadventureasthat！”sighedthegirl。

“Butwomendo！”Burnamyretorted。“Thereisagirlwritingonthepapernow——she’sgoingtodotheliterarynoticeswhileI’mgone——whocametoChicagofromAnnArbor，withnomorechancethanIhad，andwho’smadeherwaysingle-handedfrominterviewingup。”

“Oh。”saidMissTriscoe，withadistinctdropinherenthusiasm。

“Isshenice？”

“She’smightyclever，andshe’sniceenough，too，thoughthekindofjournalismthatwomendoisn’tthemostdignified。Andshe’soneofthebestgirlsIknow，withlotsofsense。”

“Itmustbeveryinteresting。”saidMissTriscoe，withlittleinterestinthewayshesaidit。“Isupposeyou’requitealittlecommunitybyyourselves。”

“Onthepaper？”

“Yes。”

“Well，someofusknowoneanother，intheoffice，butmostofusdon’t。

There’squitearegimentofpeopleonabigpaper。Ifyou’dliketocomeout。”Burnamyventured，“perhapsyoucouldgettheWoman’sPagetodo。”

“What’sthat？”

“Oh，fashion；andpersonalgossipaboutsocietyleaders；andrecipesfordishesanddiseases；andcorrespondenceonpointsofetiquette。”

Heexpectedhertoshudderatthenotion，butshemerelyasked，“Dowomenwriteit？”

Helaughedreminiscently。“Well，notalways。Wehadonemanwhousedtodoitbeautifully——whenhewassober。Thedepartmenthasn’thadanypermanentheadsince。”

Hewassorryhehadsaidthis，butitdidnotseemtoshockher，andnodoubtshehadnottakenitinfully。Sheabruptlyleftthesubject。

“Doyouknowwhattimewereallygetinto-morrow？”

“Aboutone，Ibelieve——there’saconsensusofstewardstothateffect，anyway。”Afterapauseheasked，“AreyoulikelytobeinCarlsbad？”

“WearegoingtoDresden，first，Ibelieve。ThenwemaygoondowntoVienna。Butnothingissettled，yet。”

“AreyougoingdirecttoDresden？”

“Idon’tknow。WemaystayinHamburgadayortwo。”

“I’vegottogostraighttoCarlsbad。There’sasleeping-carthatwillgetmetherebymorning：Mr。Stollerlikeszeal。ButIhopeyou’llletmebeofusetoyouanywayIcan，beforeweparttomorrow。”

“You’reverykind。You’vebeenverygoodalready——topapa。”

Heprotestedthathehadnotbeenatallgood。“Buthe’susedtotakingcareofhimselfontheotherside。Oh，it’sthisside，now！”

“Soitis！Howstrangethatseems！It’sactuallyEurope。Butaslongaswe’reatsea，wecan’trealizeit。Don’tyouhatetohaveexperiencesslipthroughyourfingers？”

“Idon’tknow。Agirldoesn’thavemanyexperiencesofherown；they’realwaysotherpeople’s。”

ThisaffectedBurnamyassoprofoundthathedidnotquestionitstruth。

Heonlysuggested，“Well；sometimestheymakeotherpeoplehavetheexperiences。”

WhetherMissTriscoedecidedthatthiswastoointimateornotsheleftthequestion。“DoyouunderstandGerman？”

“Alittle。Istudieditatcollege，andI’vecultivatedasortofbeer-

gardenGermaninChicago。Icanaskforthings。”