He had decked himself out in a starched collar and a heavy watch chain. But he was very young, and when you are young, you look well in anything. He had such remarkable strength that it was never necessary for him to give way; this had lent him assurance and authority. If you spoke to him, he was slow to reply, and if you slapped him on the shoulder, he was slow in turning round to see who had greeted him. He was a pleasant, good-humored companion.
We went to the booking office; there was no one there, and the window was closed. Moreover a notice on the wall announced that the hall was let to a private club for the first two hours of the evening.
A few young people came along as we were standing there, read the notice, and went away again. The carpenter was unwilling to go, looked round, and went in through the gate as though looking for someone.
"We can't do anything about it," I called after him.
"No," he said. "But I wonder--?"
He crossed the yard and began to look up at all the windows.
A man came down the stairs.
"What is it?" he asked.
"My friend wanted to buy a ticket," I replied. The carpenter still showed no inclination to return from the yard.
The man approached me, and proved to be the landlord. He explained, like the notice, that a club had rented the hall for the first two hours.