The general said:
"I am trying to say—it's not much in my line—that in case we never met again, I do not wish you to think me an ignoramus."
Tietjens thought:
"He's not ill . . . and he can't think me so ill that I'm likely to die. . . . A fellow like that doesn't really know how to express himself. He's trying to be kind and he doesn't know how to. . . ."
The general had paused. He began to say:
"But there are finer things in Marvell than that. . . ."
Tietjens thought:
"He's trying to gain time. . . . Why on earth should he? . . . What is this all about?" His mind slipped a notch. The general was looking at his finger-nails on the blanket. He said:
"There's, for instance:
"'The graves a fine and secret place
But none I think do there embrace. . . .'"