[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

champagne glass a little sadly,  that I m exactly looking forward to it. But I
always paid my bills; and I bought this and I ll pay for it.
 Yes. Indeed. Well, said the slim man with another dry cough, tapping the
sheaf of paper before him,  I have your complete record here. It establishes
beyond doubt that, among the other things, on innumerable occasions you have
proven yourself a profligate 
 Right, said Tommy.
Page 153
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
  a drunkard 
 Yes, said Tommy, glancing with a touch of nostalgia at the now-empty
methuselah.
  and an engager in illicit relationships with the opposite sex. Nowhere,
said the slimman,  is it recorded that you did as much as one honest day s
work, that you sought to improve the world you lived in, or change your fellow
man in any way for the better. An unparalleled, a unique, record, in which all
the entries of a lifetime fall on one side of the ledger. He tapped the sheaf
of paper with one dry forefinger and glanced sharply at Tommy.  I hope you
realize this makes you a special case.
 And what s that supposed to mean? growled Tommy, for he was beginning to
get tired of all this and the fumes of the champagne were fading from his
head.
 Just this, said the slim man, and made a sweeping outward gesture.  Here
you see gathered  Tommy looked up and discovered that the room in which he
sat had strangely and subtly expanded; it stretched now to fantastic
distances, and everywhere that he could see, it was filled, stuffed and jammed
with silent people  All the people, living and dead, whose lives your own life
affected. Look at them.
Tommy looked again; and it was true. There were armies of waiters and
waitresses and bartenders, regiments and companies of men and women he had
known, even back to those that had populated the shadowy early beginnings of
his childhood. They all looked at him now with silent, waiting gazes.
 Hey, lads and lasses, murmurred Tommy, gently. Good to see you one more
time.
He had almost whispered the words; but some trick of the now vast room picked
them up and amplified them and sent them rolling amongstall the watching
multitude. And a wordless, rustling stir answered back from their formless
ranks.
 We can dispose of your case very quickly, said the slim man,  provided any
one of these people will produce an indictment, he turned his head to the
room and raised his voice.  Anyone having just cause to condemn Thomas
Nicholas Harmen will now speak up!
His words likeTommy s, boomed out through the watching crowd. But no sound
came back& And Tommy, staring in incredulity from face to remembered face, his
glance dancing like lightning from remembered features to remembered features,
met here a friendly wink, there a grin, and there again a surreptitious
thumbs-up gesture, there a tenderly remembering smile, there a beam of
gratitude, there again and once more a glow of pure, remembered jollity and
happiness.
 Will no one, no one out of all this man s life time, said the thin man,
speaking up again,  find some cause for indictment against him?
Silence made answer, a happy, stubborn silence.
 Well then, said the slim man, returning the sheaf of papers to his
briefcase, with a wash-my-hands air and standing up.  That concludes the
matter. He looked at Tommy.  Shall we go?
Page 154
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
 Go? said Tommy, looking up startled; and then back again at the crowd for a
second, before returning his gaze to the slim man.  But I thought 
 The other place, the other place, said the slim man with some asperity,
frowning.  It has to be one or the other.
 The other place! said Tommy, astonished and set up in his chair.  Now who d
have thought  He started to get up,then sank back into his seat.
 Well? Well? said the slim man, checking himself in midstep away from the
table.
 Thisother place, said Tommy slowly;  just what s it like?
 Why, it s like whatever you wish, said the slim man.  That s why it s a
place of reward.
 Oh, said Tommy.  Well 
 Well what? said the thin man.  Surely you don t object to that?
 Well, you see  said Tommy, slowly still,  about this business of rewards.
You might put it that I ve been being rewarded all my life long, right here
where I ve been. And I enjoyed  Tommy s voice got firmer  every damn minute
of it. I don t mean to have you think I didn t. I wouldn t take back a
glassful or a moment of it. But  his voice slowed again  all the same& 
 All the same what? said the slim man.
 Well, it s been one hell of a fine life. Tommy looked up at him.  But you
know, I m ninety-four; and sometimes I think nowdays, even if I could drink
another bottle just like the ones I used to, and feel the way I used
to perhaps I d just as soon sit back instead and remember the bottle I did
drink, than put another one on top of it. There s some kind of quote about
that  He wrinkled his brow.  The pitcher going to the well once too often, or
some such no, that isn t right. The point is,the first times are really the
best times for everything. After a while it gets to be just comfortable,
instead of being all skyrockets and New Year s Eve.
He stopped and looked up at the slim man again.
 You remember when you came into my hospital room, he said.  I told you I
was looking forward to the end of the book, here. And I meant it. It s all
been so fine all these years and I wouldn t want to spoil it now by taking the
pitcher to the well too many times& What I mean is  he looked at the slim man [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]