Free Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin

longer. If I went over and bumped into him or something he might start trouble and I could give it to him right there. Everybody would see he started it so it would be all right.
    Before I could figure it out better, Dr Cooper said, ‘How about another one, George?’ and I remembered about my ten dollars because it was my turn to treat. I mean, Dr Cooper gave me the ten dollars for the ticket so he knew I had it on me, but I didn’t have it. And I couldn’t tell him why not because it would sound dumb.
    I didn’t know what to say. I started poking my hands around in my pockets even though I knew there was nothing I could find except the nickel, and Dr Cooper hit me on the back and said, ‘Listen, George, this is a celebration, and it’s on me. Order up and skip the details.’
    I said, ‘Well, all right,’ like I meant to pay only he talked me out of it, and we had another and this time it went down easier. When I looked in the mirror in back of the bar I could see myself easy because I was almost a head taller than anybody else, and it felt good with the black hat pulled down, and the glass in my hand, and seeing the white scarf out of the corner of my eye and knowing the gun was in my pocket all ready to kill Al Judge. It felt terrific, and I almost laughed the way Al Judge was standing there just waiting for me to give it to him.
    Dr Cooper said, ‘If I didn’t have my lousy job to think about, George, I’d be in there with you all the way. There’s a job you have to see before you can appreciate it, George. Thirty characters sitting around waiting for you to turn them into Walter Lippmanns. Thirty Cinderellas, George, and I’m the fairy godmother. Christ!’
    I said, ‘It sounds like a good job. It sounds all right to me.’
    â€˜Thirty characters. If they had your guts, George, do you know what they’d do? They’d get out and learn it the hard way. That’s what I tell them. Get out and be a man!’
    He put more money down and he had two right in a row, but this time he slugged them straight down. He thought for a long time and then he said, ‘Do you know what that Ph. D. cost? Fifteen hundred bucks. A fifteen-hundred-dollar investment. You buy them in Troy instead of life insurance.’
    I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about, but he looked like he wanted me to say something so I said, ‘Fifteen hundred dollars is a lot of money.’
    The bartender fixed us both up and we slugged it down together. Then after a while I saw Dr Cooper was talking. It was like his lips were moving only the words were coming from someplace else. He said, ‘Take your chances, George. That’s what you said, and I’m with you all the way. Just get in there and take those chances.’
    Everything was pretty rocky then, and I couldn’t remember saying anything like that, but I was glad Dr Cooper felt the way he did about it because then I wouldn’t have to get him after I got Al Judge. And when I thought about Al Judge, I turned to look at him, and there was the white scarf and the cane going back through the tables to where there was a men’s-room sign.
    I was holding on to the bar, and when I let go, my knees were all loose under me. That was the first I knew I was getting drunk, and I was glad I found out in time, because if I kept it up maybe Al Judge would have gotten away altogether. But I wasn’t really drunk so it was all right. My mind was working fine and I knew just what I was doing. I knew if Al Judge was alone in the men’s room, I could do the job right away and then it would be all over.
    I took a good grip on the gun and I walked back between the tables until I came to the men’s room. Then I pushed open the door and walked in. It took only one good look to tell I was alone with Al Judge all right.
    There was a long mirror on the side where you came in and under it were three sinks to