Evening star., 1933-04-14
INSTALLNIENT XX.

KNOW, RenIlemen. IIldI l. get
IL tips? My regular wages are
hardly worth mentioning. But
the tips are quite decent. And yester-
day Mrs. Morris. that ancient dame
with her poll-parrot voice. gave me
$500. An honest. real 500 of her Amer
ican dollars" He thrust his hand into
his trousers pocket and pulled out
fat roll of bills. And you see I am
carrying it on my person. the way the
really rich Americans do. Mime.
Clemens was a little annoyed with me.
She said I couldn't possibly take the
money because Mrs. Morris was crazy
and had no idea what she was doing.
But that was all the more reason for
taking it, At any rate, one tiny atom
of her fortune would be put to sensible
use. 1t will keep my head above water
for two months, until l have finished
my SYMPHONY"
He tossed a roll of bills into the air
and caught it again-twice. thrice. FL
nally the wind caught it and blew 1t
down among the de k chairs. A pass
ing sailor carelessly stepped on 1t.
Vladimir rushed to the rescue. and re-
turned triumphGntly with his money
Only a hairs BREADTH he cried,
laughing. "and it would have fallen into
the ocean
Boris irritably shook his head.
You are even crazier than your
crazy Mrs Morris
Suddenly Thomas rose and took his
leave. Whether awake or asleep it was
always the same. He could hardly for
get himself for more than a few mo-
ments: then he would be rcawakened
by thoughts of Sybil. He imagined she
was knocking at his door.
He ran through the corridors, and ar
r;,.@r Of !, hin hro2tl1lacS No LET
ter A damp copy of the ships news
paper lay on his desk. He rang. No
one had called She'll come toward
the end of my consultation hour. he
thought, the way Shortwell did yes
terday. and looked at his watch. 1t was
II O'Clock. That left two full hours
to Kill before lunch. For a considerable
time he walked up and down. smoking,
listening to every sound in the cor
time he heard steps approaching his
door. Finally he took up the news
paper and tried to read. He read head
lines only.
Great Political Speech BY Mussolini'
Terrific Mine Disaster in Belgium
115s Dead"-"Eckener Starts Ocean
Flight Today :" Underneath the last
heading he read:
In all probability We Alall see the
great silver bird floating above the
Columbia between 8 and tomorrow"
All these reports left Thomas COM
pletely cold He threw the paper on the
floor and left his cabin. 1t still lacked
an hour to lunch. What was he to do
with this cursed hour?
Then he found himself in the second
class in search of Prof. Kreiglacher, but
without caring whether he really dis
covered him. He finally arrived at the
bar and ordered a cognac. He had not
looked up Kreiglacher because of yes
terday's confession He had not blamed
Kreiglacher for his gambling mania,
which had cost him everything, from
any narrow. middle-class point Of view.
Nevertheless. it signifled the end Of an
illusion. Without any motive of excul-
pating himself. but merely because he
was passionately interested in human
obsessions, Krieglacher had told him
anecdotes from the lives of other IA
nous scientists The net result of these
stories was that they left Thomas in
state of gloomy establishment. Moth
ing. not even the gift OF great genius
can protect men from possession by evil
demons
Suddenly, while he was drinking his
third and fourth cognac. he realized
that he was looking at life in quite a
different wav from what he had been
doing week a"o He felt as if for so
years he had been living in peaceful
rolling country, only now noticing that
this landscape was a field of battle sur
rounded on every side by enemies dan
gers lurking behind every bush and tree.
where every step means a risk and
where there is no safe shelter. Danger.
everything that the heart clings to
means danger Suddenly he realized
that however the adventure on the ship
ended, he would return home a differ
ent person. Never again would he be
able to live peacefully and carefree as
he had once: never again would he
trust his fellow men in his naive sim ]
plicity. Who am l. who are you, who
is my friend. and who the stranger to
whom I shall open the door of my
house? There are enemies everywhere
and the nearest enemy is the most dan
gerous.
When shortly before he went to see
Stephanson and broke the top off tire
insulin ampule. the great financier saio:
Doctor. I don't like your looks. There
Is something the matter with you. You
are worrying about something"
Thomas. who had drunk six glasses
of cognac, replied. Life"
Life? But life is magnificent and
beautiful"
Perhaps it is beautiful, but it seems
too dangerous to me-"
Stephanson laughed.
But that is just what I like about
IT. I wouldn't enjoy single day OF
my life If I weren't perpetually sur
where, I tell you. Do you imagine