Even after you began to climb, I stood down in the crowd and watched you with--well, not with confidence.

The more dazzling the front you presented, the higher your facade rose, the more I expected to see a big crack zigzagging from top to bottom,"-- he indicated its course in the air with his forefinger,--"then a crash and clouds of dust.

It was curious.

I had such a clear picture of it.

And another curious thing, Bartley," Wilson spoke with deliberateness and settled deeper into his chair, "is that I don't feel it any longer.