A deep stillness settled upon him, the tides of his body seemed to settle in a glassy pool. And his dream of the carousel flowered in his mind. ‘Police! Police!’ He saw the empty carriages moving forward, then suddenly backward, then forward again. What in the world was being manufactured under the ground there ? What had he been thinking to dream such a thing? In his mind’s eye he got into one of the empty carriages, a large ornate yellow swan. He rode forward, then was pulled back, then forward … He could feel the hum and power of engines under him below the ground. A dark texture of fear flapped upon his neck and in anger he banished the carousel and concentrated on the paper … the editorial commending the fire department, another about morale, then a story about diamonds as they were used in the making of war equipment. But as he read, the words dropped out of his head and all that remained was a vision of tombstones toppling and vandals with crowbars and heavy irons in their hands breaking marble Stars of David in the dirt.

When his mother had finished her Eagle she rolled her chair over to him. He was asleep. She shook him. He opened the couch for her and helped her to bed. Then he went upstairs and got undressed. His hat remained on the rim of the bathtub. It had never before spent the night out of its oval box.

Chapter Five

THE next morning he went to work as usual, returned home, had his dinner, and went to bed at his accustomed early hour. The second day passed, and the third. On the fourth day, in the afternoon, he sat at his desk behind the glass walls of his office and felt even the smallest spasm of glee. It was a rare mood for him.

No one had noticed anything different about him. This alone would have been enough to lift the heavy clothing of fear in which he had lived for so long. But there were other things; new and strong sensations had begun to vibrate in his quiet world. For three days he had been interviewing girls for the job just vacated by Miss Kapp – née Kapinsky – and although several of the applicants might have satisfied Mr Newman in the old days, now he turned them all down. He could see so sharply now that he wanted to present Mr Gargan with something unusual, something which, in a sense, would represent the apotheosis of his powers of selection. The rhythms of his body quickened as though to a challenge – his job itself seemed new. Besides, he felt a new admiration – almost a feeling of brotherhood – for Mr Gargan now. For the man had forced him to see, had taken things in hand and made him shake off the misery of his existence. The girl he hired would make up for all his misconduct of the past, including the hiring of the Kapinsky person. The girl had to be perfect.