Chapter 8
I did not see Brett again until she came back from San Sebastian. One card came from her from there. It had a picture of the Concha, and said: āDarling. Very quiet and healthy. Love to all the chaps. BRETT.ā
Nor did I see Robert Cohn again. I heard Frances had left for England and I had a note from Cohn saying he was going out in the country for a couple of weeks, he did not know where, but that he wanted to hold me to the fishing-trip in Spain we had talked about last winter. I could reach him always, he wrote, through his bankers.
Brett was gone, I was not bothered by Cohnās troubles, I rather enjoyed not having to play tennis, there was plenty of work to do, I went often to the races, dined with friends, and put in some extra time at the office getting things ahead so I could leave it in charge of my secretary when Bill Gorton and I should shove off to Spain the end of June. Bill Gorton arrived, put up a couple of days at the flat and went off to Vienna. He was very cheerful and said the States were wonderful. New York was wonderful. There had been a grand theatrical season and a whole crop of great young light heavyweights. Any one of them was a good prospect to grow up, put on weight and trim Dempsey. Bill was very happy. He had made a lot of money on his last book, and was going to make a lot more. We had a good time while he was in Paris, and then he went off to Vienna. He was coming back in three weeks and we would leave for Spain to get in some fishing and go to the fiesta at Pamplona. He wrote that Vienna was wonderful. Then a card from Budapest: āJake, Budapest is wonderful.ā Then I got a wire: āBack on Monday.ā
Monday evening he turned up at the flat. I heard his taxi stop and went to the window and called to him; he waved and started up-stairs carrying his bags. I met him on the stairs, and took one of the bags.
āWell,ā I said, āI hear you had a wonderful trip.ā
āWonderful,ā he said. āBudapest is absolutely wonderful.ā
āHow about Vienna?ā
āNot so good, Jake. Not so good. It seemed better than it was.ā
āHow do you mean?ā I was getting glasses and a siphon.
āTight, Jake. I was tight.ā
āThatās strange. Better have a drink.ā
Bill rubbed his forehead. āRemarkable thing,ā he said. āDonāt know how it happened. Suddenly it happened.ā
āLast long?ā
āFour days, Jake. Lasted just four days.ā
āWhere did you go?ā
āDonāt remember. Wrote you a post-card. Remember that perfectly.ā
āDo anything else?ā
āNot so sure. Possible.ā
āGo on. Tell me about it.ā
āCanāt remember. Tell you anything I could remember.ā
āGo on. Take that drink and remember.ā
āMight remember a little,ā Bill said. āRemember something about a prize-fight. Enormous Vienna prize-fight. Had a nigger in it. Remember the nigger perfectly.ā
āGo on.ā
āWonderful nigger. Looked like Tiger Flowers, only four times as big. All of a sudden everybody started to throw things. Not me. Niggerād just knocked local boy down. Nigger put up his glove. Wanted to make a speech. Awful noble-looking nigger. Started to make a speech. Then local white boy hit him. Then he knocked white boy cold. Then everybody commenced to throw chairs. Nigger went home with us in our car. Couldnāt get his clothes. Wore my coat. Remember the whole thing now. Big sporting evening.ā
āWhat happened?ā
āLoaned the nigger some clothes and went around with him to try and get his money. Claimed nigger owed them money on account of wrecking hall. Wonder who translated? Was it me?ā
āProbably it wasnāt you.ā
āYouāre right. Wasnāt me at all. Was another fellow. Think we called him the local Harvard man. Remember him now. Studying music.ā
āHowād you come out?ā
āNot so good, Jake. Injustice everywhere. Promoter claimed nigger promised let local boy stay. Claimed nigger violated contract. Canāt knock out Vienna boy in Vienna. āMy God, Mister Gorton,ā said nigger, āI didnāt do nothing in there for forty minutes but try and let him stay. That white boy musta ruptured himself swinging at me. I never did hit him.āā
āDid you get any money?ā
āNo money, Jake. All we could get was niggerās clothes. Somebody took his watch, too. Splendid nigger. Big mistake to have come to Vienna. Not so good, Jake. Not so good.ā
āWhat became of the nigger?ā
āWent back to Cologne. Lives there. Married. Got a family. Going to write me a letter and send me the money I loaned him. Wonderful nigger. Hope I gave him the right address.ā
āYou...