“Arnold,” he began, seating himself and knocking the ashes from his cigar, “my daughter is troubled about my frankness with you. You know there is a period of necessary restraint just now, owing to the final adjustment being incomplete. Some of the oldest men remember the former régime. The Council is strict, and—in short, Arnold, I am putting my own safety in your hands because I trust you, and also because—” He broke off in confusion. “You need to know so much before you face the Council,” he resumed. “Arnold, some time I will receive your confidence, and then—well, this misunderstanding will be cleared away.”
I shook his hand warmly. “I suppose I am not permitted to leave the apartment?” I asked.
“By all means. Go where you will. Your gray uniform shows you to be an unascribed stranger, and every policeman has your photograph in his thumb-book by now. Only, remember that you must decline to enter into conversation with anyone who may accost you. Please remember this point scrupulously, for your own sake. But, Arnold, do you know, I think you can spend the rest of your day very profitably in learning to read.”
“Learn in a day?”
“To some extent. There are only thirty-five principal characters, and all the sub-characters are readily discernible as coming under these heads. I believe Elizabeth has an old spelling-book, and she will be delighted to instruct you.”
The idea aroused his enthusiasm, and a few minutes later Elizabeth had begun to give me my lesson. By supper time I had already mastered the elements, and we continued to study in the evening under the soft solar light, which, issuing from small, shaded, glass-covered apertures in the walls, made the room as bright as day.
Soon after dinner the dumb-waiter shaft clicked open and a package lay there. Inside was my overcoat.
At least, it was meant for me. But instead of the fine cheviot, I discovered a wretched mixture of cotton and shoddy. I was indignant.
David advised me to do nothing. “A stranger sometimes gets poor service,” he explained.
“It is a deliberate fraud, then?” I demanded.