"What are you going
to do?"
Benham was going to stop that conflict very much as a man might go
to stop a clock that is striking unwarrantably and amazingly. He
was going to stop it because it annoyed his sense of human dignity.
White hesitated for a moment and then followed, crying "Benham!"
But there was no arresting this last outbreak of Benham's all too
impatient kingship. He pushed aside a ducking German waiter who was
peeping through the glass doors, and rushed out of the hotel. With
a gesture of authority he ran forward into the middle of the street,
holding up his hand, in which he still held his dinner napkin
clenched like a bomb. White believes firmly that Benham thought he
would be able to dominate everything. He shouted out something
about "Foolery!"
Haroun al Raschid was flinging aside all this sublime indifference
to current things. . . .
But the carbines spoke again.
Benham seemed to run unexpectedly against something invisible. He
spun right round and fell down into a sitting position. He sat
looking surprised.
Pages:
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578