Unknown - Isherwood, Christopher (The Berlin Stories - The Last of Mr Norris - Goodbye to Berlin) (TXT)

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“Oh, that?” said Arthur hastily; he seemed very much disconcerted. “That’s merely the catalogue number from the sale where I originally bought it. It must have been there all this time… . Anni, my love, do you think you and Otto would be so very kind as to carry some of the things into the kitchen and put them in the sink? I don’t like to leave Hermann too much to do in the morning. It makes him cross with me for the rest of the day.”

“What is that ticket for?” I repeated gently, as soon as they were outside. “I want to know.”

Arthur sadly shook his head.

“Ah, my dear William, nothings escapes your eye. Yet another of our domestic secrets is laid bare.”

“I’m afraid I’m very dense. What secret?”

“I rejoice to see that your young life has never been sullied by such sordid experiences. At your age, I regret to say, I had already made the acquaintance of the gentleman whose sign-manual you will find upon every piece of furniture in this room.”

“Good God, do you mean the bailiff?”

“I prefer the word Gerichtsvollzieher. It sounds so much

nicer.”

“But, Arthur, when is he coming?”

“He comes, I’m sorry to say, almost every morning. Sometimes in the afternoon as well. He seldom finds me at home, however. I prefer to let Schmidt receive him. From what I have seen of him, he seems a person of little or no culture. I doubt if we should have anything in common.”

“Won’t he soon be taking everything away?”

Arthur seemed to enjoy my dismay. He puffed at his cigarette with exaggerated nonchalance.

“On Monday next, I believe.”

“How frightful! Can’t anything be done about it?”

“Oh, undoubtedly something can be done about it. Something will be done about it. I shall be compelled to pay another visit to my Scotch friend, Mr. Isaacs. Mr. Isaacs assures me that he comes of an old Scotch family, the Inverness

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Isaacs. The first time I had the pleasure of meeting him, he nearly embraced me: ‘Ah, my dear Mr. Norris,’ he said, ‘you are a countryman of mine.’ “

“But, Arthur, if you go to a moneylender, you’ll only get into worse trouble still. Has this been going on for long? I always imagined that you were quite rich.”

Arthur laughed:

“I am rich, I hope, in the things of the Spirit … My dear boy, please don’t alarm yourself on my account. I’ve been living on my wits for nearly thirty years now, and I propose to continue doing so until such time as I am called into the, I’m afraid, not altogether approving company of my fathers.”

Before I could ask any more questions, Anni and Otto returned from the kitchen. Arthur greeted them gaily and soon Anni was sitting on his knee, resisting his advances with slaps and bites, while Otto, having taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves, was absorbed in trying to repair the gramophone. There seemed no place for myself in this domestic tableau and I soon said that I must be going.

Otto came downstairs with a key to let me out of the house door. In parting, he gravely raised his clenched fist in salute:

“Red Front.”

“Red Front,” I answered.

CHAPTER SIX

One morning, not long after this, Frl. Schroeder came shuffling into my room in great haste, to tell me that Arthur was on the telephone. “It must be something very serious. Herr Norris didn’t even

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say good morning to me.” She was impressed and rather hurt.

“Hullo, Arthur. What’s the matter?”

“For Heaven’s sake, my dear boy, don’t ask me any questions now.” His tone was nervously irritable and he spoke so rapidly that I could barely understand him. “It’s more than I can bear. All I want to know is, can you come here at once?”

“Well … I’ve got a pupil coming at ten o’clock.”

“Can’t you put him off?”

“Is it as important as all that?”

Arthur uttered a little cry of peevish exasperation: “Is it important? My dear William, do please endeavour to exercise your imagination. Should I be ringing you up at this unearthly hour if it wasn’t important? All I beg of you is a plain answer: Yes or No. If it’s a question of money, I shall be only too glad to pay you your usual fee. How much do you charge?”

“Shut up, Arthur, and don’t be absurd. If it’s urgent, of course I’ll come. I’ll be with you in twenty minutes.”

I found all the doors of the flat standing open, and walked in unannounced. Arthur, it appeared, had been rushing wildly from room to room like a flustered hen. At the moment, he was in the sitting-room, dressed ready to go out, and nervously pulling on his gloves. Hermann, on his knees, rummaged sulkily in a cupboard in the hall. Schmidt lounged in the doorway of the study, a cigarette between his lips. He did not make the least effort to help and was evidently enjoying his employer’s distress.

“Ah, here you are, William, at last!” cried Arthur, on seeing me. “I thought you were never coming. Oh dear, oh dear! Is it as late as that already? Never mind about my grey hat. Come along, William, come along. I’ll explain everything to ydu on the way.”

Schmidt gave us an unpleasant, sarcastic smile as we went out.

When we were comfortably settled on the top of a bus, Arthur became calmer and more coherent.

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“First of all,” he fumbled rapidly in all his pockets and produced a folded piece of paper: “Please read that.”

I looked at it. It was a Vorladung from the Political Police. Herr Arthur Norris was requested to present himself at the Alexanderplatz that morning before one o’clock. What would happen should he fail to do so was not stated. The wording was official and coldly polite.

“Good God, Arthur,” I said, “whatever does this mean? What have you been up to now?”

In spite of his nervous alarm, Arthur displayed a certain modest pride.

“I flatter myself that my association with,” he lowered his voice and glanced quickly at our fellow passengers, “the representatives of the Third International has not been entirely unfruitful. I am told that my efforts have even excited favourable comment in certain quarters in Moscow. … I told you, didn’t I, that I’d been in Paris? Yes, yes, of course… . Well, I had a little mission there to fulfil. I spoke to certain highly placed individuals and brought back certain instructions… . Never mind that now. At all events, it appears that the authorities here are better informed than we’d supposed. That is what I have to find out. The whole question is extremely delicate. I must be careful not to give anything away.”

“Perhaps they’ll put you through the third degree.”

“Oh, William, how can you say anything so dreadful? You make me feel quite faint.”

“But, Arthur, surely that would be … I mean, wouldn’t you rather enjoy it?”

Arthur giggled: “Ha, ha. Ha, ha. I must say this, William, that even in the darkest hour your humour never fails to restore me… . Well, well, perhaps if the examination were to be conducted by Frl. Anni, or some equally charming young lady, I might undergo it with—er—very mixed feelings. Yes.” Uneasily he scratched his chin. “I shall need your moral support. You must come and hold my hand. And if

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this,” he glanced nervously over his shoulder, “interview should terminate unpleasantly, I shall ask you to go to Bayer and tell him exactly what has happened.”

“Yes, I will. Of course.”

When we had got out of the bus on the Alexanderplatz, poor Arthur was so shaky that I suggested going into a restaurant and drinking a glass of cognac. Seated at a little table we regarded the immense drab mass of the Praesidium buildings from the opposite side of the roadway.