Martin found in Dr. Pickerbaugh a generous chief. He was eager to have Martin invent and clamor about his own Causes and Movements. His scientific knowledge was rather thinner than that of the visiting nurses, but he had little jealousy, and he demanded of Martin only the belief that a rapid and noisy moving from place to place is the means (and possibly the end) of Progress.
In a two-family house on Social Hill, which is not a hill but a slight swelling in the plain, Martin and Leora found an upper floor. There was a simple pleasantness in these continuous lawns, these wide maple-shaded streets, and a joy in freedom from the peering whisperers of Wheatsylvania.
Suddenly they were being courted by the Nice Society of Nautilus.
A few days after their arrival Martin was summoned to the telephone to hear a masculine voice rasping:
“Hello. Martin? I bet you can’t guess who this is!”
Martin, very busy, restrained his desire to observe, “You win—g’ by!” and he buzzed, with the cordiality suitable to a new Assistant Director:
“No, I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Well, make a guess.”
“Oh— Clif Clawson?”
“Nope. Say, I see you’re looking fine. Oh, I guess I’ve got you guessing this time! Go on! Have another try!”