52
DIAMONDS TO SIT ON
Whatever the reason was, he did not meet any one he knew. Hippolyte walked about with a pale face, feeling cold and lost. He had quite forgotten that he was supposed to be looking for the House Department. He crossed over from pavement to pavement and turned aimlessly into side-streets, where the snow was still thick on the ground. The houses that had been previously painted blue were now green ; the yellow ones were grey, and there seemed to be more noise in the streets. He was surprised to see tram-lines in the town ; he had never noticed them before. At one moment he felt he had never been out of Stargorod, and at the next he felt he had never been in the place before. Thinking such thoughts, he walked down Marx and Engels Streets. Suddenly Hippolyte went hot and cold all over. Coming straight towards him was a stranger with a kind face who was carrying a chair on his head. Hippolyte gasped with astonishment, and immediately recognized the chair. Yes, there it was : the chair made by Gambs, up holstered with Enghsh chintz, and slightly soiled by revolutionary storms. It was the walnut chair with bent legs. Hippolyte felt as though he had been shot. Not far away some men were calling : ‘ Any knives to grind ? Any knives to grind ? ’ ‘ Pots to mend ? Pots to mend ? ’ ‘ Paper ! Paper 1 ’ A car rushed through the street; a window pane broke ; hfe was busy here. There was no time to be lost. Hippolyte pounced upon the stranger like a leopard, and without saying a word pulled the chair away from him. The stranger tugged it back again. Then Hippolyte got hold of one of the legs with his left hand and tried to tear the stranger’s fingers from the chair.
