This conversation took place some days later—he brought out his whole story when the trail was nearly cold. When he made that remark about the romantic schoolgirls I saw his rather hunted eyes focus suddenly. It was a girl—just like any other girl, I thought —hurrying by outside my office in the driving snow.
"Something pretty?"
He brought his gaze back and said, "I'm off that for ever. You know, Сalloway, a time comes in a man's life when he gives up all that sort of thing ..."
"I see. I thought you were looking at a girl."
"I was. But only because she reminded me for a moment of Anna—Anna Schmidt."
"Who's she? Isn't she a girl?"
"Oh, yes, in a way."
"What do you mean, in a way?"
"She was Harry's girl."
"Are you taking her over?"
"She's not that kind, Calloway. Didn't you see her at his funeral? I'm not mixing my drinks any more. I've got a hangover to last me a life-time."
"You were telling me about Kurtz," I said.
It appeared that Kurtz was sitting there, making a great show of reading The Lone Rider from Santa Fé. When Martins sat down at his table he said with indescribably false enthusiasm, "It's wonderful how you keep the tension."
"Tension?"
"Suspense. You're a master at it. At the end of every chapter one's left guessing ..."
"So you were a friend of Harry's," Martins said.
"I think his best," but Kurtz added with the smallest pause in which his brain must have registered the error, "except you of course."
"Tell me how he died."
"I was with him. We came out together from the door of his flat and Harry saw a friend he knew across the road—an American called Cooler. He waved to Cooler and started across the road to him when a jeep came tearing round the corner and bowled him over. It was Harry's fault really—not the driver's."
"Somebody told me he died instantaneously."
"I wish he had. He died before the ambulance could reach us though."
"He could speak then?"
"Yes. Even in his pain he worried about you."
"What did he say?"
"I can't remember the exact words, Rollo—I may call you Rollo, mayn't I? he always called you that to us. He was anxious that I should look after you when you arrived. See that you were looked after. Get your return ticket for you." In telling me Martins said, "You see I was collecting return tickets as well as cash."
"But why didn't you cable to stop me (но почему вы не телеграфировали, чтобы остановить меня)?"
"We did (мы сделали это), but the cable must have missed you (но телеграмма должна была пропустить вас = наверное, не дошла до вас). What with censorship and the zones (из-за цензуры и зон;