The Brass Bed

6

I was thinking about her, about Jolly.

Harvey had the skillet and the cornmeal ready and was waiting for the fish. He took them from me and rolled them in the cornmeal and put them in the skillet, and they began to sizzle immediately and shortly began to smell about as good as anything can smell.

“They’re fine fat fish,” Harvey said. “Very good bullheads.”

“Where’s Pete?” I said.

“He got sore and left.”

“No wonder. You were a little rough on him, Harvey.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Maybe you wanted him to hang around and hog some of the bullheads and tank up on our beer.”

“Say, that reminds me that the beer ought to be good and cold now. Shall I plug a couple of cans to go with the bullheads?”

“Maybe you wanted him to stay on and on and simply spoil everything for us.”

“Not at all, Harvey. I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Then why did you criticize me for being rough on him?”

“God-damn it, Harvey, I wasn’t being critical. You sound like your conscience is hurting you or something.”

“I dare say that’s true. I have a very tender conscience. Having a tender conscience is quite a heavy burden sometimes, old boy.”

“You are to be commended for having a tender conscience. It’s extremely rare.”

“Is that your honest opinion? Thanks, old boy. You’re making me feel a great deal better. I knew I could count on you for understanding.”

“Not at all.”

“If only the son of a bitch hadn’t said the coffee was too weak.”

“Well, I’ll plug a couple of beers.”

“What? Oh, yes, you do that, old boy. It ought to be good and cold now, and it will go wonderfully with the bullheads.”

I plugged the beers and opened a can of beans and set it at the edge of the fire to warm, and we sat there and drank the beers and listened to the bullheads sizzle and enjoyed ourselves. Pretty soon the fish were brown and crisp, and the beans were warm, and we ate the fish and the beans with bread and had two more cans of beer with them and two after them. After we were finished with the last two beers, we got blankets and spread them on the ground and lay down on them in our clothes, except for shoes, which we removed.

“Are you sleepy?” Harvey said.

“Yes, I am,” I said. “I’m pretty sleepy.”

“I’m quite sleepy myself. It’s the fresh night air that does it. There’s nothing like fresh night air to make you sleepy.”

“That’s true. The sound of the river and the sound of the air stirring in the trees are helpful also. Don’t you think so?”

“Very helpful. Lulling. They’re lulling sounds.”

“Of course it doesn’t hurt anything to have your belly full of bullheads, either.”

“Now you’re being rather coarse, old boy. I was hoping we could keep it romantic.”

“I’m sorry. I’m very partial to romance myself.”

“I know about that. However, I must say that it doesn’t seem to be working out just right for you.”

“I think probably you’re speaking of something else. I was thinking of romance in the literary sense.”

“Do you object to speaking of it the other way?”

“Not generally, but I object to speaking of it specifically.”

“You mean you don’t want to talk about you and Jolly, old boy?”

“Well, that’s specific.”

“Yes, it is. I admit that. I only refer to your romance because I have developed an intense interest in it. It’s a fact that I have your welfare very much at heart,” Harvey said.

“Thanks. However, you needn’t concern yourself any longer. In the first place, it could hardly be called a romance, and in the second place, whatever it was, it isn’t any longer.”

“Pardon me for being cynical, old boy, but I rather doubt that.”

“It’s true, just the same,” I said.

“I hope not. I sincerely do. I always found you and Jolly a charming pair. I was all for you.”

“I appreciate your support, but there were things against us. Principally, we were illegal.”

“There’s no denying that, and I consider it regrettable. Did you find it a great handicap?”

“I found it a very great handicap indeed, and now I wish to quit speaking of it.”

“Immediately? I was hoping that you would be willing to tell me how it got started. In thinking about it, it has occurred to me that I’ve never known.”

I hesitated before I said, “It was pretty ordinary.”

“Ordinary? With Jolly involved? I consider that incredible, old boy.”

“Well, I’ll admit that it didn’t stay ordinary very long. The truth is, she got the notion that she was ignorant and needed to know more than she did, so she came out to the college to take some classes, and one of the classes was one I happened to be teaching.”

“I don’t find that ordinary at all. In fact, I find it exceptionally romantic. I’m very pleased.” He sounded almost smug about it.

“I’m glad that it pleases you.”

“Did she stay in the class all term?”

“No. She only stayed a little while.”

“That’s too bad. Was it because she didn’t learn anything?”

“So far as I could judge, she learned practically nothing at all. In her case, I was an utter failure as a teacher.”

“Perhaps she found you a distracting influence. It’s pretty hard to concentrate on history when your glands are kicking up a fuss, you know.”

“Yes, I do know. There is probably no one in the world who knows it any better.”

“But I wouldn’t feel too bad about your failure, old boy. You may not have been able to teach her anything, but I’m positive something was accomplished the other way round, and it is my opinion based on observation that she has taught you plenty.”

“I concede that and merely wish to qualify it by saying that I would certainly be better off if I’d never learned it.”

“It hurts me to see you so bitter.”

“All right, Harvey. And now I believe I would like to go to sleep.”

“Immediately?”

“As quickly as possible,” I said.

“Shall we run the line at midnight?”

“Yes.”

“Will you wake up, do you think?”

“I’m certain to wake up. I always wake up at midnight when we are out here. It’s a habit.”

“That’s good, then. Just give me a shake, will you?”

“All right.”

“I’ll be very grateful,” Harvey said.

“It’s all right, Harvey. I’ll be glad to give you a shake.”

“Goodnight, then, old boy.”

“Goodnight.”

He rolled over on his side with his back to me, and after a while I could hear him breathing deeply and evenly in sleep, and I continued to lie awake on my back, hearing besides his breathing the sounds of the river and the trees and all the other sounds that occurred in the night. Finally I went to sleep, and a long time after that I woke up again, and sure enough, it was then just a few minutes after midnight by my watch. I shook Harvey awake, and we went down to the river and ran the line and took off four fat bullheads and a carp. We put the fish on a stringer and went back and lay down on our blankets again, and Harvey went right off to sleep, but I didn’t. I started thinking about Jolly and told myself that I had better quit, but I didn’t do that, either. The river kept running, and the trees kept stirring, and I kept thinking. The last time I looked at my watch before sleeping, it was three o’clock.