OCR Text |
Show -b-much of it had been trampled into the ground. The fine hardwood floora^of their living room was covered by a thick, shellac- like substance. The filter of the pool had broken, flood-t ing the white plaster with a coating of gray ear^h. The tenants? who a year earlier had advertised themselves as "a vigorous young couple with two children, competent to take exceptional care of your property;" had fled. The Professor's wife; who might excusably have broken into tears, began instead to assess the damage; The floors would need refinishing? the fuchsias? the azaleas, and a whole bed of succulants would need replacing. The lemon tree and the pelargonlas could? with careful nursing, be brought back to life in one or two years. The pool damage appeared costly, but could be repaired quickly. Fortunately, the house itself, a sturdy structure of redwood; appeared to have withstood the combination of misuse and neglect. Also, the view, San Pablo Bay glistening in the distance between two hills, remained unperturbed. When the next academic semester opened in the fall; the Professor would begin his thirty-fourth year of teaching^ Just as he had completed thirty^three years of marriage the day his ship sailed for home. He had not, in the beginning, thought to become a teacher? His earliest and most persistant ambition was to write; but the Depression had driven him back to college and then into teaching. NeverJUaelsss, he had published sixteen books and had returned early from his trip to |