3
The sound that caused Humphrey to start up in surprise was the first outbreak of profanity he had ever heard from the lips of Henry Calverly.
Henry was sitting up stiffly, holding last week's Voice with hands that distinctly trembled. When Humphrey first looked, he was white, but after a moment the colour began flowing back to his face and continued flowing until his face was red. His lips were clamped tight, as if the small verbal explosion that had just passed them had proved even more startling to himself than to Humphrey. 'What is it?' asked the editor.
Henry stared at the outspread paper.
'This!' he got out. 'This—this!'
'What's the matter, Hen?'
'Don't you know?'
'Oh, your picnic story! Yes—but—what on earth is the matter with you?'
'You know, Hump! You never told me!'
'You mean the cuts?'