"Don't let my grotesque appearance frighten you. I'm harmless."
Ted blurted out, "You said in your letter that you're a doddering _old_
man."
"Ten years older than Methuselah." John Wilson laughed and the sound
was good to hear. "I'm glad to know you, Ted."
"And I you. Shall we get out to the house?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like to grab a bite to eat. The dining car on
the Limited was crowded and I couldn't get in."
"The cafes will be crowded and we'll have to wait. I'll fix you
something, if you want to come along now."
"Fine!"
Ted picked up the suitcase, escorted John Wilson to the pickup and put
the luggage in the rear. About to open the door for his guest, he was
forestalled when John Wilson opened it himself and climbed in. Ted
settled in the driver's seat.
"Mind if I smoke?" John Wilson asked.
"Not at all."
He lighted a pipe and sat puffing on it while Ted steered expertly
through Lorton's hunting season traffic. A happy warmth enveloped him.
He liked most people, but very few times in his life had he been drawn
so close to one on such short acquaintance. John Wilson was probably ten
years older than Al, but far from doddering. He was that rare person
whom age has made mellow rather than caustic.
Then they were on the Lorton Road and started into the Mahela. John
Wilson spoke for the first time since leaving the station.
"They crowd in."
"For deer season they do," Ted agreed. "The day after it ends, you could
shoot a cannon down Main Street and never hit a person."
They passed a tent set up beside the road, and a gasoline lantern
burning inside gave its walls a ghostly translucence. There was a neat
pile of wood beside it and wood smoke drifted from a tin pipe that
curled through the wall. The car in which the campers had come was
backed off the road. It was a good camp and as they passed Ted was aware
that John Wilson knew it was good. But he said nothing, and Ted had the
impression that he did not talk unless he had something worthwhile to
say.
A quarter mile beyond the camp, the truck's probing lights reflected
from the startlingly bright eyes of a deer. Ted slowed. Deer were always
running back and forth across the road and, since bright lights dazzled
them, they would not always get out of the way. They came closer and the
lights revealed very clearly a magnificent buck.
So alert that every muscle was tense, he stood broadside. One rear leg
was a bit ahead of the other, the animal was poised for instant flight.
His antlers were big and branching, and in the car lights they looked
perfectly symmetrical. It was a splendid creature, one that would
command attention anywhere. After ten seconds, it leaped into the forest
and disappeared.