Holiday
"FRANKLY, MR. HUXLEY, I can"t understand your noncooperative att.i.tude." The
President of Western University let the stare from his slightly bulging eyes rest on the second b.u.t.ton of Phil"s vest. "You have been given every facility for sound useful research along lines of proven worth. Your program of instructing has been kept light in order that you might make use of your undoubted ability. You have been acting chairman of your sub-department this past semester. Yet instead of profiting by your unusual opportunities, you have, by your own admission, been, shall we say, frittering away your time in the childish pursuit of old wives" tales and silly superst.i.tions. Bless me, man, I don"t understand it!"
Phil answered, with controlled exasperation, "But Doctor Brinckley, if you would permit me to show you—
The president interposed a palm. "Please, Mr. Huxley. It is not necessary to go over that ground again. One more thing, it has come to my attention that you have been interfering in the affairs of the medical school."
"The medical school! I haven"t set foot inside it in weeks."
"It has come to me from unquestioned authority that you have influenced Doctor
Coburn to disregard the advice of the staff diagnosticians in performing surgical operations—the best diagnosticians, let me add, on the West Coast."
Huxley maintained his voice at toneless politeness. "Let us suppose for the moment that I have influenced Doctor Coburn—I do not concede the point— has there been any case in which Coburn"s refusal to follow diagnosis has failed to be justified by the subsequent history of the case?"
"That is beside the point. The point is—I can"t have my staff from one school interfering in the affairs of another school. You see the justice of that, I am sure."
"I do not admit that I have interfered. In fact, I deny it."
"I am afraid I shall have to be the judge of that." Brinckley rose from his desk and came around to where Huxley stood. "Now Mr. Huxley—may I call you Philip? I like to have my juniors in our inst.i.tution think of me as a friend. I want to give you the same advice that I would give to my son. The semester will be over in a day or two. I think you need a vacation. The Board has made some little difficulty over renewing your contract inasmuch as you have not yet completed your doctorate. I took the liberty of a.s.suring them that you would submit a suitable thesis this coming academic year—and I feel sure that you can if you will only devote your efforts to sound, constructive work. You take your vacation, and when you come back you can outline your proposed thesis to me. I am quite sure the Board will make no difficulty about your contract then."
"I had intended to write up the results of my current research for my thesis."
Brinckley"s brows raised in polite surprise. "Really? But that is out of the question, my boy, as you know. You do need a vacation. Good-bye then; if I do not see you again before commencement, let me wish you a pleasant holiday now."
When a stout door separated him from the presi-dent, Huxley dropped his pretense of good manners and hurried across the campus, ignoring students and professors alike. He found Ben and Joan waiting for him at their favorite bench, looking across the La Brea Tar Pits toward Wilshire Boulevard.
He flopped down on the seat beside them. Neither of the men spoke, but Joan was unable to control her impatience. "Well, Phil? What did the old fossil have to say?"
"Gimme a cigaret." Ben handed him a pack and waited, "He didn"t say much—just threatened me with the loss of my job and the ruination of my academic reputation if I didn"t knuckle under and be his tame dog—all in the politest of terms of course."
"But Phil, didn"t you offer to bring me in and show him the progress you had already made?"
"I didn"t bring your name into it; it was useless. He knew who you were well enough—he made a sidelong reference to the inadvisability of young instructors seeing female students socially except under formal, fully chaperoned conditions—talked about the high moral tone of the university, and our obligation to the public!"
"Why, the dirty minded old so-and-so! I"ll tear him apart for that!"
"Take it easy, Joan." Ben Coburn"s voice was mild and thoughtful. "Just how did he threaten you, Phil?"
"He refused to renew my contract at this time. He intends to keep me on tenterhooks all summer, then if I come back in the fall and make a noise like a rabbit, he might renew—if he feels like it. d.a.m.n him! The thing that got me the sorest was a suggestion that I was slipping and needed a rest."
"What are you going to do?"
"Look for a job, I guess. I"ve got to eat."
"Teaching job?"
"I suppose so, Ben."
"Your chances aren"t very good, are they, without a formal release from Western?
They can blacklist you pretty effectively. You"ve actually got about as much freedom in the matter as a professional ballplayer."
Phil looked glum and said nothing. Joan sighed and looked out across the marshy depression surrounding the tar pits. Then she smiled and said, "We could lure old Picklepuss down here and push him in."
Both men smiled but did not answer. Joan muttered to herself something about sissies. Ben addressed Phil. "You know, Phil, the old boy"s idea about a vacation wasn"t too stupid; I could do with one myself."
"Anything in particular in mind?"
"Why, yes, more or less. I"ve been out here seven years and never really seen the state. I"d like to start out and drive, with no particular destination in mind.
Then we could go on up past Sacramento and into northern California. They say it"s magnificent country up there. We could take in the High Sierras and the Big
Trees on the way back."
"That certainly sounds inviting."
"You could take along your research notes and we could talk about your ideas as we drove. If you decided you wanted to write up some phase, we could just lay over while you did it."
Phil stuck out his hand. "It"s a deal, Ben. When do we start?"
"As soon as the term closes."
"Let"s see—we ought to be able to get underway late Friday afternoon then. Which car will we use, yours or mine?"
"My coupe ought to be about right. It has lots of baggage s.p.a.ce."
Joan, who had followed the conversation with interest, broke in on them. "Why use your car, Ben? Three people can"t be comfortable in a coupe."
"Three people? Wha" d"yu mean, three people? You aren"t going, bright eyes."
"So? That"s what you think. You can"t get rid of me at this point; I"m the laboratory case. Oh no, you can"t leave me behind."
"But Joan, this is a stag affair."
"Oh, so you want to get rid of me?"
"Now Joan, we didn"t say that. It just would look like the devil for you to be barging about the country with a couple of men—"
"Sissies! Tissyprissles! Pantywaists! Worried about your reputations."
"No, we"re not. We"re worried about yours." "It won"t wash. No girl who lives alone has any reputation. She can be as pure as Ivory soap and the cats on the campus, both s.e.xes, will take her to pieces anyway. What are you so scared of?
We aren"t going to cross any state lines." Coburn and Huxley exchanged the secret look that men employ when confronted by the persistence of an unreasonable woman.
"Look out, Joan!" A big red Santa Fe bus took the shoulder on the opposite side of the highway and slithered past. Joan switched the tail of the grey sedan around an oil tanker truck and trailer on their own side of the road before replying. When she did, she turned her head to speak directly to Phil who was riding in the back seat.