Laughing Torso

LAUGHING TORSO

ourselves. I had discovered in Montparnasse an
artist's model who was the image of Evan. He was
much amused and said that we must invite her too.
We hired a private room and ordered the dinner.
We invited Curtis MofFat, who had a passion for
ecrevisses. Ecrevisses are like very small lobsters and
repose on a large dish covered in a very beautiful
sauce. We ordered fifty. We ordered hors
d'oeuvres, soup, chickens, a colossal dinner with
cocktails, red and white wine, champagne and
coffee and liqueurs. The patron gave us an estimate
of eight hundred francs, which was very cheap in-
deed. Ivan Opfer, the cartoonist, came. He is a
Dane and had lived in America and talks with an
accent that is a mixture of Danish and American.
He looks like a Viking, and tells stories better than
anyone I have ever met. He is the only person
I know who can take a long time to tell a story,
and he is such an admirable actor that he can make
every word interesting. Curtis came and was de-
lighted with the ecrevisses. Eating them is a long
and messy business, because one has to use one's
fingers. Harrison Dowd was there and played the
piano to us* The artist's model turned up and
bored us so much that we regretted having asked
her. I must say that I behaved very welL I was so
flattered to find myself in the important role of
hostess that I was extremely occupied the whole
evening dealing with the needs of the guests, and did
not drink too much. Fortunately, the artist's model,
having decided that there was not much chance of
getting money for the honour of her presence, re-
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