I drove back to te cup of tea. As it    open for anot out and strolled up in tion of the church.

        I    crossing t-place tle    I’d seen    feeling. I couldn’t see    tify a I could have sworn I knew her.

        S up treet and turned doreets to t, to    quite knoy, perly as a kind of precaution. My first t     last    almost at t it struck me t it    as likely t s Bletc case I’d o cep, because if s I o iously, keeping at a safe distand examining riking about it. Sallistis y or fifty, in a rat on, as t slipped out of , and t     of a slut. Ao identify, only t vague somet s, perly s to a little s and paper stle s al it anding in to a stand of postcards. My opped to pass time of day.

        I stopped too, as soon as I could find a send to be looking into. It or’s, full of samples of tings and time I    fifteen yards a ime of day. ‘Yes, t’s jest about it. t’s jest o    else do you expect?” I said. It don’t seem rig? But    as alk to a sto’s a sting    be one of ter all,    toers of ! It was Elsie!

        Yes, it    fat hag!

        It gave me suc, mind you, seeing Elsie, but seeing    for a moment t of my eyes. taps and ballstops and porcelain sinks and to fade ao tance, so t I bot see t I    s reize me. But s made any sign. A moment more, and surned and    on. Again I follo    I     I just o        sion on me. In a manner of speaking I’d been c I ce different eyes now.

        It    a kind of stific kick out of studying ’s frig ty- four years    do to a y-four years, and te skin and red mouturned into t round-sed    made me feel doe so pletely as t. I’m fat, I grant you. I’m t at least I’m A s even particularly fat, sly to , it    a kind of soft lumpy der, like a bag of meal.

        I folloo of mean little streets I didn’t kno t in, it    outside tioner and tobaist.’ So Elsie    tle sopped before, but smaller and a lot more flyblo seem to sell anyt tobacd t kinds of ss. I    ake a minute or t in. I o brace my nerve up a little before I did it, because to be some hard lying if by any ce she reized me.

        So t sapped on ter. So o face. A reize me. Just looked at me t tomers—utter lack of i.

        It    time I’d seen ed    gave me almost as big a s first moment    to be able to foresee ’ll look like ’s all a question of t if it o me, y and sy-to    forty-seven, it     s. t    type of middle-aged     like a bulldog? Great underurned do tly like a bulldog. A    in a million.    pletely grey, it y colour, and t to be. S kno a er, a stranger, an uing fat man. It’s queer     do. I    s expeg to see me, or    of all—sten my existence.

        ‘Devening,’ s listless hey have.

        ‘I    a pipe,’ I said flatly. ‘A briar pipe.’

        ‘A pipe. No lemme see. I know we gossome pipes somewhere. Now where did I—ah! ‘Ere we are.’

        Sook a cardboard box full of pipes from some imagining t, because my oandards    no, so be so ‘superior’, all t Lily and preteo look thpiece.

        ‘Amber? I don’t kno any—’ surohe shop and called: ‘Ge-e!’

        So too. A    sounded somethe shop.

        ‘Ge-e!    t other box of pipes?’

        Gee came in. outissleeves, rainer moustacive kind of ed iarted poking round in searc    five minutes before t to earttles of ss. It’s    of litter to accumulate in ttle sock is    fifty quid.

        I c among tter and mumbling to s of an    to describe to you . A kind of cold, deadly desolate feeling. You ’t ceive it unless you’ve . All I    say is, if to care about ty-five years ago, go and     I felt.

        But as a matter of fact, t t urn out from . times I’d s unut trees! ouldn’t you t er-effect be time , and    as mugers as t. As for    even reize me. If I told    remember. And if s    even be angry because I’d doy on    hing had never happened.

        And on t Elsie o go to t least o ’s safe to bet t    surprise me to learn t sogetreated ion about t, and many a time it reets, I used to tick imes I felt I’d been a bit of a bastard, but otimes I reflected (rue enoug if it    bee less s? A damn sig t goo to t ended up like everybody else, a fat old    a frotle saco call    a string of kids as ed and died lamented—and migcy-court, if she was lucky.

        t any hem.

        ‘I don’t kno any amber ones just at present, sir. Not amber. e gossome nice vulite ones.’

        ‘I ed an amber one,’ I said.

        ‘e gossome nice pipes ‘ere.’ S. ‘t’s a nice pipe, no one is.’

        I took it. Our fiou. t remember. And I suppose you t t for old sake’s sake, to put . But not a bit of it. I didn’t    t smoke a pipe. I’d merely been making a pretext to e into tur over in my fingers and t it doer.

        ‘Doesn’t matter, I’ll leave it,’ I said. ‘Give me a small Players’.’

        o buy someter all t fuss. Gee ted out a packet of Players’, still muncacea for not it seemed too damn silly to e    and t    I ever saw of Elsie.

        I    back to ter out o tures, if t instead I landed up in one of t of too a couple of caffordsravelling in    talking about tate of trade, and playing darts and drinking Guinness. By closing time t I o take taxi, and I    u m I han ever.
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