H. M. Pulham, Esquire (1941) by John P. Marquand

Author:John P. Marquand [Marquand, John P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504015707
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

XXI

Good-by to All That

Now and then, even as late as 1920, it was not difficult to hear someone humming “Where Do We Go from Here?”

Songs like that used to have a way of running through my head for days at a time, falling into rhythm with my footsteps and actions, as this one did while I waited at the Back Bay Station for Bill and Marvin Myles.

“Where do we go from here?” I was humming. “Anywhere from Harlem to a Jersey City pier.” The limits set by that song could not be measured by the words. They were like the limits of the known and the unknown world. Columbus might have sung it aboard the Santa Maria, and the truth is you are always going somewhere, even if it’s only to hell in a hack.

It was hard to tell what car they would be in, downstairs in the Back Bay Station where the train paused for the shortest possible time. I was wondering what Marvin would be wearing and what she would look like when I saw her.

“Anywhere from Harlem,” I was humming, “to a Jersey City pier.”

Then I saw the light of the engine and I heard the bell, the light and the sound growing larger every second until they were all around me in a way which used to frighten me when I was young. Then the engine moved past with a hiss of steam and the firebox glowing, and then the baggage car and then the dining car, and then the whole place was full of steam and sulphurous smoke, and the porters were running and the doors were opening and the baggage was coming out. I saw Bill King down at the end of the platform, and then I saw Marvin getting off and speaking to him. She would be saying that it was dirty, but she looked as clean and brushed as though she had never been out of New York. She looked so much better than anybody else that I wondered how she had ever come on account of me. Bill saw me, and then Marvin was staring through the smoke as I ran toward her. Then right there in front of Bill and everyone on the platform she kissed me, threw her arms around me and held me tight.

“Darling,” she said, “you look like a Teddy bear.”

There was something definite about being kissed there on the station platform in front of Bill. I found myself wondering if anyone else could have seen me, and then I thought it did not really matter.

“Did you have a good trip?” I asked.

“Fine,” said Bill. “Boy, you’re looking fine.”

Marvin squeezed my arm.

“You look just the same,” she said. “Are you?”

“Of course I am,” I answered.

“Well, where do we go from here?” she said.

“Where do we go from here?” I repeated. “Anywhere from Harlem to a Jersey City pier.”

“Come on,” said Bill. “Let’s push out of this. Oh, joy, oh, boy! Where do we go from here?”

I saw people looking at us and I realized that we were making a good deal of noise.

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