OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

THE LODGER 57
that killed him. When he died, my mother and sister had just enough
to live on."
Moise was gazing dreamily at the table-clath, unaware to all
appearance that anyone was talking. Now and again Valesco shot
a quick, searching glance at EKe. It was Madame Baron, above all,
who seemed to drink in his words, while Antoinette^ like Domb,
feigned complete indifference.
Baron had already pushed back his armchair and started reading
the paper. A sharp frost had set in and children had made slides
along the gutters; the night was clear, the sky bathed in a pale,
wintry sheen.
" You ought to go out for a bit, Monsieur Elie^" Madame Baron
had kept on telling him. " If you wrap yourself up well, you won't
come to any harm. You'll never get right if you stay indoors all the
time."
But, though he was blowing his nose less often and was only
conscious of his stiff neck now and then—when, for instance, he
had been crouching over tie fire for an hour or two and suddenly
stood up—he hated the idea of going out. He found a curious
sensation of well-being within the four walls of this litde house,
and, though he did absolutely nothing all day, never felt bored.
Even the effort of getting fully dressed was too much for him, and
he pottered about the house in slippers, collarless, like Baron, the
brass cap of his collar-stud jogging his Adam's apple.
" So you haven't a photo of your sister with you? "
" No. But I wish I'd brought my photos; I'd have shown you
one of our villa at Prinkipo."
" Prinkipo? Where's that? "
" It's an island in the Sea of Marmora, an hour's run from
Istanbul. In early spring everybody who can manage it clears out
of town and goes to Prinkipo, where the climate's simply marvellous.
Everyone has his private caique."
" What's that? "
" A light row-boat, with a sail as well. In the evenings you see
dozens of them gliding about on a sea that's calm as a lake. Usually
there are musicians on board, and the air is full of music, and the
most wonderful scents. The islands are a mass of flowers, and in
the distance you see the white minarets tapering up along the
coast."
AH this was true, and he visualized the scene so clearly that he
could have made an accurate sketch of it. And yet somehow he