He staggered back a step, his face working in horror. "What kind of an idea is that for my own wife to have?" he croaked. "Beer I have to drink instead of water. How can I stand it? Do you think I like beer? I can"t wash myself. Already people don"t like to stand near me; and how will they act at the end of the season? I go around looking like a b.u.m because my beard is too tough for an electric razor, and I"m all the time drunk-the first Greenberg to be a drunkard. I want to be respected-"
"I know, Herman, darling," she sighed. "But I thought for the sake of our Rosie- Such a business we"ve never done like we did this week end. If it rains every Sat.u.r.day and Sunday, but not on our concession, we"ll make a fortune!"
"Esther!" Herman cried, shocked. "Doesn"t my health mean anything?"
"Of course, darling. Only I thought maybe you could stand it for-"
He s.n.a.t.c.hed his hat, tie, and jacket, and slammed the door. Outside, though, he stood indeterminedly. He could hear his wife crying, and he realized that, if he succeeded in getting the gnome to remove the curse, he would forfeit an opportunity to make a great deal of money.
He finished dressing more slowly. Esther was right, to a certain extent. If he could tolerate his waterless condition "No!" he gritted decisively. "Already my friends avoid me. It isn"t right that a respectable man like me should always be drunk and not take a bath. So we"ll make less money. Money isn"t everything-"
And with great determination he went to the lake.
But that evening, before going home, Mike walked out of his way to stop in at the concession. He found Greenberg sitting on a chair, his head in his hands, and his body rocking slowly in anguish.
"What is it, Mr. Greenberg?" he asked gently.
Greenberg looked up. His eyes were dazed. "Oh, you, Mike," he said blankly. Then his gaze cleared, grew more intelligent, and he stood up and led Mike to the bar. Silently, they drank beer. "I went to the lake today," he said hollowly. "I walked all around it hollering like mad. The gnome didn"t stick his head out of the water once."
"I know," Mike nodded sadly. "They"re busy all the time."
Greenberg spread his hands imploringly. "So what can I do? I can"t write him a letter or send him a telegram; he ain"t got a door to knock on or a bell for me to ring. How do I get him to come up and talk?"
His shoulders sagged. "Here, Mike. Have a cigar. You been a real good friend, but I guess we"re licked."
They stood in an awkward silence. Finally Mike blurted: "Real hot, today. A regular scorcher."
"Yeah. Esther says business was pretty good, if it keeps up."
Mike fumbled at the Cellophane wrapper. Greenberg said: "Anyhow, suppose I did talk to the gnome. What about the sugar?"
The silence dragged itself out, became tense and uncomfortable. Mike was distinctly embarra.s.sed. His brusque nature was not adapted for comforting discouraged friends. With immense concentration he rolled the cigar between his fingers and listened for a rustle.
"Day like this"s h.e.l.l on cigars," he mumbled, for the sake of conversation. "Dries them like n.o.body"s business. This one ain"t, though."
"Yeah," Greenberg said abstractedly. "Cellophane keeps them-"
They looked suddenly at each other, their faces clean of expression.
"Holy smoke!" Mike yelled.
"Cellophane on sugar!" Greenberg choked out.
"Yeah," Mike whispered in awe. "I"ll switch my day off with Joe, and I"ll go to the lake with you tomorrow. I"ll call for you early."
Greenberg pressed his hand, too strangled by emotion for speech. When Esther came to relieve him, he left her at the concession with only the inexperienced griddle boy to a.s.sist her, while he searched the village for cubes of sugar wrapped in Cellophane.
The sun had scarcely risen when Mike reached the hotel, but Greenberg had long been dressed and stood on the porch waiting impatiently. Mike was genuinely anxious for his friend. Greenberg staggered along toward the station, his eyes almost crossed with the pain of a terrific hangover.
They stopped at a cafeteria for breakfast. Mike ordered orange juice, bacon and eggs, and coffee half-and-half. When he heard the order, Greenberg had to gag down a lump in his throat.
"What"ll you have?" the counterman asked.
Greenberg flushed. "Beer," he said hoa.r.s.ely.
"You kidding me?" Greenberg shook his head, unable to speak. "Want anything with it? Cereal, pie, toast-"
"Just beer." And he forced himself to swallow it. "So help me," he hissed at Mike, "another beer for breakfast will kill me!"
"I know how it is," Mike said around a mouthful of food.
On the train they attempted to make plans. But they were faced by a phenomenon that neither had encountered before, and so they got nowhere. They walked glumly to the lake, fully aware that they would have to employ the empirical method of discarding tactics that did not work.
"How about a boat?" Mike suggested.
"It won"t stay in the water with me in it. And you can"t row it."
"Well, what"ll we do then?"
Greenberg bit his lip and stared at the beautiful blue lake. There the gnome lived, so near to them. "Go through the woods along the sh.o.r.e, and holler like h.e.l.l. I"ll go the opposite way. We"ll pa.s.s each other and meet at the boathouse. If the gnome comes up, yell for me."
"O. K.," Mike said, not very confidently.
The lake was quite large and they walked slowly around it, pausing often to get the proper stance for particularly emphatic shouts. But two hours later, when they stood opposite each other with the full diameter of the lake between them, Greenberg heard Mike"s hoa.r.s.e voice: "Hey, gnome!"
"Hey, gnome!" Greenberg yelled. "Come on up!"
An hour later they crossed paths. They were tired, discouraged, and their throats burned; and only fishermen disturbed the lake"s surface.
"The h.e.l.l with this," Mike said. "It ain"t doing any good. Let"s go back to the boathouse."
"What"ll we do?" Greenberg rasped. "I can"t give up!"
They trudged back around the lake, shouting half-heartedly. At the boathouse, Greenberg had to admit that he was beaten. The boathouse owner marched threateningly toward him.
"Why don"t you maniacs get away from here?" he barked. "What"s the idea of hollering and scaring away the fish? The guys are sore-"
"We"re not going to holler any more," Greenberg said. "It"s no use."
When they bought beer and Mike, on an impulse, hired a boat, the owner cooled off with amazing rapidity, and went off to unpack bait.
"What did you get a boat for?" Greenberg asked. "I can"t ride in it."
"You"re not going to. You"re gonna walk."
"Around the lake again?" Greenberg cried.
"Nope. Look, Mr. Greenberg. Maybe the gnome can"t hear us through all that water. Gnomes ain"t hardhearted. If he heard us and thought you were sorry, he"d take his curse off you in a jiffy."
"Maybe." Greenberg was not convinced. "So where do I come in?"
"The way I figure it, some way or other you push water away, but the water pushes you away just as hard. Anyhow, I hope so. If it does, you can walk on the lake." As he spoke, Mike had been lifting large stones and dumping them on the bottom of the boat. "Give me a hand with these."
Any activity, however useless, was better than none, Greenberg felt. He helped Mike fill the boat until just the gunwales were above water. Then Mike got in and shoved off.
"Come on," Mike said. "Try to walk on the water."
Greenberg hesitated. "Suppose I can"t?"
"Nothing"ll happen to you. You can"t get wet; so you won"t drown."
The logic of Mike"s statement rea.s.sured Greenberg. He stepped out boldly. He experienced a peculiar sense of accomplishment when the water hastily retreated under his feet into pressure bowls, and an unseen, powerful force buoyed him upright across the lake"s surface. Though his footing was not too secure, with care he was able to walk quite swiftly.
"Now what?" he asked, almost happily.
Mike had kept pace with him in the boat. He shipped his oars and pa.s.sed Greenberg a rock. "We"ll drop them all over the lake-make it d.a.m.ned noisy down there and upset the place. That"ll get him up."
They were more hopeful now, and their comments, "Here"s one that"ll wake him," and "I"ll hit him right on the noodle with this one," served to cheer them still further. And less than half the rocks had been dropped when Greenberg halted, a boulder in his hands. Something inside him wrapped itself tightly around his heart and his jaw dropped.
Mike followed his awed, joyful gaze. To himself, Mike had to admit that the gnome, propelling himself through the water with his ears, arms folded in tremendous dignity, was a funny sight.
"Must you drop rocks and disturb us at our work?" the gnome asked.
Greenberg gulped. "I"m sorry, Mr. Gnome," he said nervously. "I couldn"t get you to come up by yelling."
The gnome looked at him. "Oh. You are the mortal who was disciplined. Why did you return?"
"To tell you that I"m sorry, and I won"t insult you again." "Have you proof of your sincerity?" the gnome asked quietly.
Greenberg fished furiously in his pocket and brought out a handful of sugar wrapped in Cellophane, which he tremblingly handed to the gnome.
"Ah, very clever, indeed," the little man said, unwrapping a cube and popping it eagerly into his mouth. "Long time since I"ve had some."
A moment later Greenberg spluttered and floundered under the surface. Even if Mike had not caught his jacket and helped him up, he could almost have enjoyed the sensation of being able to drown.