§9
That evening George Edmund, who had come home with his mind aglitter with cinematograph impressions, found his father a patient but inattentive listener. For indeed Mr. Brumley was not listening at all; he was thinking and thinking. He made noises like “Ah!” and “Um,” at George Edmund and patted the boy’s shoulder kindly and repeated words unintelligently, such as, “Red Indians, eh!” or “Came out of the water backwards! My eye!”
Sometimes he made what George Edmund regarded as quite footling comments. Still George Edmund had to tell someone and there was no one else to tell. So George Edmund went on talking and Mr. Brumley went on thinking.