The Girl on the Boat - Penn State University

truth swept over him for the hundred and first time, he
groaned hollowly and gave himself up to the grey despair
which is the almost inseparable companion of
young men in his position.
So engrossed was he in his meditation that he did
not hear the light footstep in the outer office, and it
was only when it was followed by a tap on the door of
the inner office that he awoke with a start to the fact
that clients were in his midst. He wished that he had
taken his father’s advice and locked up the office. Probably
this was some frightful bore who wanted to make
his infernal will or something, and Sam had neither
the ability nor the inclination to assist him.
Was it too late to escape? Perhaps if he did not answer
the knock, the blighter might think there was nobody at
home. But suppose he opened the door and peeped in?
A spasm of Napoleonic strategy seized Sam. He dropped
silently to the floor and concealed himself under the
desk. Napoleon was always doing that sort of thing.
<strong>The</strong>re was another tap. <strong>The</strong>n, as he had anticipated,
the door opened. Sam, crouched like a hare in its form,
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Girl</strong> on the Boat
128
held his breath. It seemed to him that he was going to
bring this delicate operation off with success. He felt
he had acted just as Napoleon would have done in a
similar crisis. And so, no doubt, he had to a certain
extent; only Napoleon would have seen to it that his
boots and about eighteen inches of trousered legs were
not sticking out, plainly visible to all who entered.
“Good morning,” said a voice.
Sam thrilled from the top of his head to the soles of
his feet. It was the voice which had been ringing in his
ears through all his waking hours.
“Are you busy, Mr. Marlowe?” asked Billie, addressing
the boots.
Sam wriggled out from under the desk like a disconcerted
tortoise.
“Dropped my pen,” he mumbled, as he rose to the
surface.
He pulled himself together with an effort that was
like a physical exercise. He stared at Billie dumbly.
<strong>The</strong>n, recovering speech, he invited her to sit down,
and seated himself at the desk.