I said, "Tell me about yourself—and Lime."

"Look here," he said, "I badly need another drink, but I can't keep on scrounging on a stranger.

Could you change me a pound or two into Austrian money?"

"Don't bother about that," I said and called the waiter. "You can treat me when I come to London

on leave. You were going to tell me how you met Lime?"

The glass of chocolate liqueur might have been a crystal the way he looked at it and turned it this

way and that. He said, "It was a long time ago. I don't suppose anyone knows Harry the way I

do," and I thought of the thick file of agents' reports in my office, each claiming the same thing. I

believe in my agents: I've sifted them all very thoroughly.

"How long?"

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"Twenty years—or a bit more. I met him my first term at school. I can see the place. I can see the

notice-board and what was on it. I can hear the bell ringing. He was a year older and knew the

ropes. He put me wise to a lot of things." He took a quick dab at his drink and then turned the

crystal again as if to see more clearly what there was to see. He said, "It's funny. I can't

remember meeting any woman quite as well."

"Was he clever at school?"

"Not the way they wanted him to be. But what things he did think up. He was a wonderful

planner. I was far better at subjects Like History and English than Harry, but I was a hopeless

mug when it came to carrying out his plans." He laughed: he was already beginning, with the

help of drink and talk, to throw off the shock of the death. He said, "I was always the one who

got caught."

"That was convenient for Lime."

"What the hell do you mean?" he asked. Alcoholic irritation was setting in.

"Well, wasn't it?"

"That was my fault, not his. He could have found someone cleverer if he'd chosen, but he liked

me. He was endlessly patient with me." Certainly, I thought, the child is father to the man, for I

too had found him patient.

"When did you see him last?"

"Oh, he was over in London six months ago for a medical congress. You know he qualified as a

doctor, though he never practised. That was typical of Harry. He just wanted to see if he could do

a thing and then he lost interest. But he used to say that it often came in handy." And that too

was true. It was odd how like the Lime he knew was to the Lime I knew: it was only that he

looked at Lime's image from a different angle or in a different light. He said, "One of the things I

liked about Harry was his humour." He gave a grin which took five years off his age. "I'm a

buffoon. I like playing the silly fool, but Harry had real wit. You know, he could have been a

first class light composer if he had worked at it."

He whistled a tune (он насвистел мелодию)—it was oddly familiar to me (она была странно

знакома мне). "I always remember that (я всегда помню это). I saw Harry write it (я видел как

Гарри написал ее: «я видел Гарри написать ее»). Just in a couple of minutes (просто в пару

минут) on the back of an envelope (на обороте конверта). That was what he always whistled

(это было что он всегда насвистывал) when he had something on his mind (когда у него

было что-то на уме: «когда он имел что-то на его уме»). It was his signature tune (это была

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его коронная мелодия; signature – знак, характерная черта)." He whistled the tune a second

time (он просвистел мелодию второй раз), and I knew then who had written it (и я узнал

тогда кто написал ее; to write – писать)—of course it wasn't Harry (конечно это не был

Гарри). I nearly told him so (я почти сказал ему так), but what was the point (но какой был

смысл)? The tune wavered and went out (мелодия дрогнула и оборвалась; to go – идти). He

stared down into his glass (он уставился вниз в его стакан), drained what was left and said

(осушил что было оставлено и сказал), "It's a damned shame (это есть проклятый стыд) to

think of him dying the way he did (думать о нем умирающем тем путем (как) он сделал)."

"It was the best thing (это была лучшая вещь) that ever happened to him (которая когда-либо

случилась с ним)," I said (я сказал).

He didn't take in my meaning at once (он не понял: «не сделал взять внутрь» мой смысл

сразу): he was a little hazy (он был немного туманный) with the drinks (от напитков). "The

best thing (самая лучшая вещь)?"

"Yes (да)."

"You mean there wasn't any pain (вы подразумеваете (что) не было никакой боли)?"

"He was lucky in that way, too (ему повезло и в этом: «он был удачлив в этом пути тоже»)."