Theres no emotion that stays by you for any length
oftime. Used towonder whether in the old days they pronounced their Ss as Fs,and if
so, why.
And yet it was thesame face, Id have known it in a
million. He was a chap with shiny black hair and a dull kind of face. There was
another car ahead of me and I couldnt see.
It has what the tailorcalls a reducing effect. It
wasnt till nearly tea-time that I wentout.
E means Binfield Ouse, said the chap in the Jug and
Bottle. No doubt I got the distanceswrong, but the general directions were right.
The churchyard was full to the brim, and half the graveshad names on them that I
didnt know. She was a tallish,fattish woman, might have been forty or fifty, in a
rather shabbyblack dress. Lord knows how oftenId read them during the sermon. Its
all a question ofthe shape of the bones.
Besides, I was hungry andlooking forward to a spot
of lunch. I said:Have you been in Lower Binfield long?
And the shopmandidnt see anything funny in a fat
middle-aged man buying afishing-rod. Still abarbers, though the name was
different.
It turned aside as we got into the
market-place.
No doubt I got the distanceswrong, but the general
directions were right.
I could have guessedit from the taste, as a matter
of fact.
Doyou notice how dark they always manage to make it
in these artytea-rooms?
I watched old Elsie poking about among the litter
and mumbling toherself.
I watched old Elsie poking about among the litter
and mumbling toherself. As soon as Idecently could I dropped sixpence in the Church
Expenses box andbunked. And yet Illswear the Thames water isnt the same as it used
to be. A warm, soapy, almondysmell came out of the door.
Merely looked like a commercial traveller
whodhappened to get hold of a bit of dough. When I got to the church I saw why theyd
had to have a newcemetery. Mind you, I wasnt in the same mood all the
time.
No man ever goes to pieces quite so completely as
that.
We were one of the old Lower Binfield families,the
Bowlings of Lower Binfield.
The place lived up toits name, all right. Crowds of
bloody aliens, and nearlyall of them young.
Asolid business man, youd have said, at any rate if
you hadnt seenthe car.