"He tried hard to decide," Marie put in. "He thought of almost every
kind of thing there is to think about!"
"I thought of every kind of thing," Spike corrected her.
"Beginning with a Rolls-Royce," said the witch.
Spike looked at her in surprise.
"The policeman told me how he found it standing in front of the
_pension_."
"There was only an imaginary policeman."
"Yes, I know!"
"But he did not exist!"
"How can you say that? Are we or are we not talking about him? We have
opinions and memories of him. You must admit there is more of him left
than of most men."
Spike said angrily: "I made him up out of a memory of the real
policeman who walks on the _rue Vavin_!"
"But he was on the _rue Vavin_ when your imaginary policeman was
talking to you in front of the _pension_!"
The witch stood stiffly erect, victorious.
"Monday evening, just before dinner," she declared, "I went out with
Marie here after having tea in my apartment. We said good-by on the
_quai_ in the midst of the crowd. I stood looking at the dark water.
The Eiffel Tower was black against the yellow sky.
"For me it is always unfamiliar. Its ugliness is portentous--a promise
of a dreadful and alien future. But in the mind of the common man
everywhere the tower is the emblem of Paris. An obvious target, I said
to myself, and in that moment the tower was standing on its peak. Radio
lines and supporting cables went whipping down.... I knew it was your
work, and waited.
"Would you throw your omnipotent wish away for the sake of a jest--to
express a splendid contempt for life? Would you so quickly choose
unselfish destruction?
"I was excited. 'Last night'--thus the news would be flashed to the
world--'Last night for an unknown reason the Eiffel Tower stood upon
its head and in this position now stands!'
"I saw an army of newsmen hunting facts--interviewing cabinet ministers
and engineers, importuning a thousand eye-witnesses, consulting
their own imaginations, their own interests--inflating the simple
unreasonable fact with opinion, rumor, lie and propaganda!
"They said the Germans did it! It was the moon! Madmen boasted they
had used secret engines. In all countries men blind to beauty saw God
Almighty in the ugly miracle of the Eiffel Tower!
"Exaltation thrilled me at the thought of worldwide confusion, the
tragic bewilderment of philosopher, scientist and artist. I saw a
vast terror of the unknown, and heard the shouting of the clergy, the
gleeful whispering of the goblins of superstition!
"For a moment I anticipated triumph!" The witch raised her hands,
fingers stiffly clutching, as if she would tear at Flecker's throat....
"And while I stood there deep in pleasant thoughts," she hissed, "the
tower was back on its feet, and I knew what I had seen was only a
reflection of your powerful imagination!"
The witch bowed her head. "I wept," she whispered.