‘I beg your pardon, I was not sleeping; I was thinking.’
‘Well, you can think, if you want to, but you’ve got to think to
yourself; you disturb the whole neighbourhood.’
It was a poor joke, and it made the crowd laugh. I snore at night
sometimes, but it is not likely that I would do such a thing in the
daytime and in such a place. The officer undecorated us, and seemed
sorry for our friendlessness, and really tried to be humane, but he said
we mustn’t stop there any longer or he would have to charge us rent—it
was the law, he said, and he went on to say in a sociable way that I was
looking pretty mouldy, and he wished he knew——
I shut him off pretty austerely, and said I hoped one might celebrate a
little, these days, especially when one was personally concerned.
‘Personally?’ he asked. ‘How?’
‘Because six hundred years ago an ancestor of mine signed the Compact.’
He reflected a moment, than looked me over and said:
‘Ancestor! It’s my opinion you signed it yourself. For of all the old
ancient relics that ever I—but never mind about that. What is it you are
waiting here for so long?’