The two men, strangers to each other, had been standing
side by side for perhaps half a minute before the smaller and, at a guess, the nicer of them spoke to the other. They were in the foyer of a restaurant, and the demeanour of each suggested, by its curious but easily recognisable blend of furtiveness and arrogance, that he was waiting for a lady. All the small man said was : " Excuse me, but your coat collar's turned up at the back "; but I, who had watched him making up his mind to say it--had seen him decide (in principle) to play the Good Samaritan; recoil from the idea of making him- self slightly conspicuous, from the danger that his neighbour did not understand our language or was deaf : resolve, almost, to adopt a policy of kisser faire: and at last, like one with a sudden effort of the will leaping into a cold bath, nerve himself to the performance of his good deed—l. who had had all this entertainment free of charge, could not help feeling a spurt of keen affection for the human race.
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