Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles Read Free Book Online

this island as a child and always having disliked it because one can smell the glue factories from the mainland even when walking through the woods or across the fields. One end of the island is very well populated, although you can only buy third-rate goods in any of the stores. Farther out the island is wilder and more old-fashioned; nevertheless there is a little train that meets the ferry frequently and carries you out to the other end. There you land in a little town that is quite lost and looks very tough, and you feel a bit frightened, I think, to find that the mainland opposite the point is as squalid as the island itself and offers you no protection at all."
    "You seem to have looked the situation over very carefully and from every angle," said Miss Gamelon. "My compliments to you!" She waved at Miss Goering from her seat, but one could easily see that she was not feeling frivolous in the least.
    Arnold shifted about uneasily in his chair. He coughed and then he spoke very gently to Miss Goering.
    "I am sure that the island has certain advantages too, which you know about, but perhaps you prefer to surprise us with them rather than disappoint us."
    "I know of none at the moment," said Miss Goering. "Why, are you coming with us?"
    "I think that I would like to spend quite a bit of time with you out there; that is, if you will invite me."
    Arnold was sad and uneasy, but he felt that he must at any cost remain close to Miss Goering in whatever world she chose to move.
    "If you will invite me," he said again, "I will be glad to come out with you for a little while anyway and we will see how it goes. I could continue to keep up my end of the apartment that I share with my parents without having to spend all my time there. But I don't advise you to sell your beautiful house; rather rent it or board it up while you are away. Certainly you might have a change of heart and want to return to it."
    Miss Gamelon flushed with pleasure.
    "That would be too human a thing for her to consider doing," she said, but she looked a little more hopeful.
    Miss Goering seemed to be dreaming and not listening to what either of them was saying.
    "Well," said Miss Gamelon, "aren't you going to answer him? He said: why not board your house up or rent it and then if you have a change of heart you can return to it."
    "Oh, no," said Miss Goering. "Thank you very much, but I couldn't do that. It wouldn't make much sense to do that."
    Arnold coughed to hide his embarrassment at having suggested something so obviously displeasing to Miss Goering.
    "I mustn't," he said to himself, "I mustn't align myself too much on the side of Miss Gamelon, or Miss Goering will begin to think that my mind is of the same caliber."
    "Perhaps it is better after all," he said aloud, "to sell everything."

2
    Mr. and Mrs. Copperfield stood on the foredeck of the boat as it sailed into the harbor at Panama. Mrs. Copperfield was very glad to see land at last.
    "You must admit now," she said to Mr. Copperfield, "that the land is nicer than the sea." She herself had a great fear of drowning.
    "It isn't only being afraid of the sea," she continued, "but it's boring. It's the same thing all the time. The colors are beautiful, of course."
    Mr. Copperfield was studying the shore line.
    "If you stand still and look between the buildings on the docks," he said, "you'll be able to catch a glimpse of some green trains loaded with bananas. They seem to go by every quarter of an hour."
    His wife did not answer him; instead she put on the sun-helmet which she had been carrying in her hand.
    "Aren't you beginning to feel the heat already? I am," she said to him at last. As she received no answer she moved along the rail and looked down at the water.
    Presently a stout woman whose acquaintance she had made on the boat came up to talk with her. Mrs. Copperfield brightened.
    "You've had your hair marcelled!" she said. The woman smiled.
    "Now remember," she said to Mrs. Copperfield, "the