The red squirrel in the branches above me looked wisely. He was
wondering how long before the green burrs would parch and give him
their brown chestnuts. I was contemplating a metaphysical burr. I
wanted to remain true to Phyllis, though there wasn't any sense in my
doing so. Had Gretchen resembled any one but Phyllis I never should
have been in such a predicament. I should have gone away the day after
my arrival. Here I was going into my second week. My assistant in
London was probably worrying, having heard nothing from me during that
time. As matters stood it was evident that I could not be true either
to Phyllis or Gretchen, since I did not know positively which I loved.
I knew that I loved one. So much was gained. I wanted to throw up a
coin, heads for Phyllis, tails for Gretchen, but I couldn't bring
myself to gamble on the matter. I threw a stick at his squirrelship,
and he scurried into the hole in the crotch of the tree. A moment
later he peered at me, and, seeing that nothing was going to follow the
stick, crept out on the limb again, his tail bristling with indignation.
"If it hadn't been for Gretchen," said I, "you would have been a potpie
long ago."
He must have understood my impotence, for he winked at me jeeringly.
A steamer came along then, puffing importantly, sending a wash almost
at my feet. I followed it with my eye till it became lost around the
bend. Over there was Austria and beyond, the Orient, a new world to me.
"If I could see them together!" I mused aloud.
The squirrel cocked his head to one side as if to ask: "Austria and
Turkey?"
"No," said I, looking around for another stick; "Phyllis and Gretchen.
If I could see them together, you know, I could tell positively then
which I love. As it is, I'm in doubt. Do you understand?"
The squirrel ran out to the end of the limb and sat down. It was an
act of deliberation.
"Well, why don't you answer?"
I was startled to my feet by the laughter which followed my question.
A few yards behind me stood Gretchen.
"Can't you find a better confidant?" she asked, "Yes, but she will not be my confidant," said I. I wondered how much
she had heard of the one-sided dialogue. "Will you answer the question
I just put to that squirrel of yours?"
"And what was the question?" with innocence not feigned.