Зима тревоги нашей

           Wewereoutattheoldplace—remember?"

           Heraisedthebottleandthenputitdown,saying,"No,notyet—notyet.Eth—never—nevertrustadrunk.Whenhe—whenI’m—horrible—adeadthing—there’sstillaclever,secretmindatwork,andit’snotafriendlymind.Rightnow,rightatthismoment,I’mamanwhowasyourfriend.Iliedtoyouaboutpassingout.Oh,Ipassedoutallright,butIknowaboutthebottle."

           "Wait,"Isaid,"beforeyougoanyfurther,elseitwilllook—well,youmightsuspectme.ItwasBakerbroughtthebottle,wasn’tit?"

           "Yes."

           "Hewantedyoutosignsomething."

           "Yes,butIpassedout."Hechuckledtohimselfandagainliftedthebottletohislips,butinthecandlelightIsawthesmallestbubble.Hehadtakenonlyadrop.

           "That’soneofthethingsIwantedtotellyou,Danny.Wasittheoldplacehewanted?"

           "Yes."

           "Howdoesithappenyouhaven’tsoldit?"

           "IthoughtItoldyou.Itmakesmeagentleman,lackingonlytheconductofagentleman."

           "Don’tsellit,Danny.Holdontoit."

           "What’sittoyou?Whynot?"

           "Foryourpride."

           "Idon’thaveanyprideleft,onlyposition."

           "Yes,youhave.Whenyouaskedmeformoney,youwereashamed.Thatmeanspride."

           "No,Itoldyou.Thatwasatrick.Drunksareclever,Itellyou.Itembarrassedyou,andyougavemeabuckbecauseyouthoughtIwasashamed.Iwasn’tashamed.Ijustwantedadrink."

           "Don’tsellit,Danny.It’svaluable.Bakerknowsit.Hedoesn’tbuyanythingwithoutvalue."