his legs he had not lost his shrewdness. Having found
.out that Kahn had been trained as a joiner he had
commandeered him to build up his business. It was
surely a case of the biter bit; a great scheme, and one
not devoid of humour. Well, well, they must see what
this joiner could do, this prophet who now worked
at a bench in his shirt-sleeves, this apostle of progress
who had meekly returned to the use of the hand-saw,
the plane and the hammer, this millionaire who
disdaining the sea as too common a thing, had
required a bathroom! And since even Death cannot
hope to destroy the endless daily needs of the living,
since anxiety cannot repair a back-door, and grief
cannot mend the leg of a table, and, moreover, since
many such necessary tasks had of late been either
forgotten or neglected, Kahn found himself suddenly
snowed under with orders, some of which were inspired
by curiosity, and some by an admiration for Jouse.
Oh, that Jouse! He had just been biding his time;
the revenge was indeed unusually perfect! Gone were
his enemy's smart northern clothes, his scarf-pin, his
rings and his opulent watch-chain, and in their
place was a soiled check shirt and a pair of cheap,
ready-made linen trousers.
'Bonjour, Monsieur Kahn. Will you kindly come
round at once and repair the lid of our cesspool? It
is split and permits the stench to escape.5
cMais oui, Monsieur, I come on the instant.5
He would bow with his paunch bulging over his
belt, and his waxed moustache as stiff as a poker, and
his smile apparently quite self-assured, just as though
he had not been sold up for a bankrupt. That they
could not rile him was very annoying; still, they had to
admit that his work was satisfactory.
And indeed it was very remarkable to observe how
Anatole Kahn kept his temper, how completely he
managed to shed his grand air while appearing
BB 385