“How could you ever imagine such treachery?” I wedged in.
“Well, and then what was I to do?” he demanded. “I couldn’t jump out and run and I couldn’t stay in that boiling water until I was cooked. I relied upon some instinct of feminine chivalry to give me a chance, but——”
I tried to be sympathetically consoling. “A very, very trying situation.”
“Huh! They were all stepping in and they just naturally crowded me out. Of course they paid absolutely no attention——”
Hori’s step was on the stair. He came in and sat down and poured a cup of tea. Then he stretched out on his back and gazed innocently at the ceiling. “O-Doctor-san,” he said, “you’ve settled a disputed point in Kama-Suwa and everybody’s much obliged.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, there’s been an argument for a long time whether seiyo-jins are white all over——”