OCR Text |
Show 195 Some natures, Mrs Satterwhite told herself with a mixture of exasperation and reluctant pleasure, are made for each other; they call out like dog-whistles, in tones above the normal range, and once the contact is made no force intrudes. Curtis had always been subject to such appeals: certain people he liked, and others he didn't, and while customarily the former included almost everyone of higher rank and the latter everybody else, exceptions were many. In such matters Greaves consulted his own desires, and had no compunction against violating social, military or financial rules. Several of his favorites, both male and fe-, occupied offices and drew salaries higher than their talents warranted, Smead also liked hunting and fishing, but he had more diversified tastes, and after a day on the river or the ocsBn he and the General let the others return to Oji while they continued their excursions further afield. Rumors began to circulate about these forays, and while neither man told, there began to grow up between them a sub-culture of phrases, allusions and Japanese words that caused Smead's yellow grin to grow wider and the General's great paunch to start rocking, Sooner or later they returned to the Post, once or twice |