Part 6
shoulder of his T shirt was not a cute hole. The excess material in the seat of his
seersucker shorts, the excess length of the shorts themselves, were not cute excesses.
The McArdles' four deck chairs, cushioned and ready for occupancy, were situated in
the middle of the second row from the front. Teddy sat down in one of them so that--
whether or not it was his intention--no one was sitting directly on either side of him. He
stretched out his bare, unsuntanned legs, feet together, on the leg rest, and, almost
simultaneously, took a small, ten-cent notebook out of his right hip pocket. Then, with
instantly one-pointed concentration, as if only he and the notebook existed--no
sunshine, no fellow passengers, no ship--,he began to turn the pages.
With the exception of a very few pencil notations, the entries in the notebook had
apparently all been made with a ball-point pen. The handwriting itself was manuscript
style, such as is currently being taught in American schools, instead of the old, Palmer
method. It was legible without being pretty-pretty. The flow was what was remarkable
about the handwriting. In no sense--no mechanical sense, at any rate--did the words
and sentences look as though they had been written by a child.
Teddy gave considerable reading time to what looked like his most recent entry. It
covered a little more than three pages:
Diary for October 27, 1952
Property of Theodore McArdle
412 A Deck
Appropriate and pleasant reward if finder promptly returns to Theodore McArdle.
See if you can find daddy's army dog tags and wear them whenever possible. It won't
kill you and he will like it.
Answer Professor Mandell's letter when you get a chance and the patience. Ask him not
to send me any more poetry books. I already have enough for 1 year anyway. I am quite
sick of it anyway. A man walks along the beach and unfortunately gets hit in the head
by a cocoanut. His head unfortunately cracks open in two halves. Then his wife comes
along the beach singing a song and sees the 2 halves and recognizes them and picks
them up. She gets very sad of course and cries heart breakingly. That is exactly where I
am tired of poetry. Supposing the lady just picks up the 2 halves and shouts into them
very angrily "Stop that!" Do not mention this when you answer his letter, however. It is
quite controversial and Mrs. Mandell is a poet besides.
Get Sven's address in Elizabeth, New Jersey. It would be interesting to meet his wife,
also his dog Lindy. However, I would not like to own a dog myself.
Write condolence letter to Dr. Wokawara about his nephritis. Get his new address from
mother.
Try the sports deck for meditation tomorrow morning before breakfast but do not lose
consciousness. Also do not lose consciousness in the dining room if that waiter drops
that big spoon again. Daddy was quite furious.
Words and expressions to look up in library tomorrow when you return the books--
Nephritis
myriad
gift horse
cunning
triumvirate
Be nicer to librarian. Discuss some general things with him when he gets kittenish.
shoulder of his T shirt was not a cute hole. The excess material in the seat of his
seersucker shorts, the excess length of the shorts themselves, were not cute excesses.
The McArdles' four deck chairs, cushioned and ready for occupancy, were situated in
the middle of the second row from the front. Teddy sat down in one of them so that--
whether or not it was his intention--no one was sitting directly on either side of him. He
stretched out his bare, unsuntanned legs, feet together, on the leg rest, and, almost
simultaneously, took a small, ten-cent notebook out of his right hip pocket. Then, with
instantly one-pointed concentration, as if only he and the notebook existed--no
sunshine, no fellow passengers, no ship--,he began to turn the pages.
With the exception of a very few pencil notations, the entries in the notebook had
apparently all been made with a ball-point pen. The handwriting itself was manuscript
style, such as is currently being taught in American schools, instead of the old, Palmer
method. It was legible without being pretty-pretty. The flow was what was remarkable
about the handwriting. In no sense--no mechanical sense, at any rate--did the words
and sentences look as though they had been written by a child.
Teddy gave considerable reading time to what looked like his most recent entry. It
covered a little more than three pages:
Diary for October 27, 1952
Property of Theodore McArdle
412 A Deck
Appropriate and pleasant reward if finder promptly returns to Theodore McArdle.
See if you can find daddy's army dog tags and wear them whenever possible. It won't
kill you and he will like it.
Answer Professor Mandell's letter when you get a chance and the patience. Ask him not
to send me any more poetry books. I already have enough for 1 year anyway. I am quite
sick of it anyway. A man walks along the beach and unfortunately gets hit in the head
by a cocoanut. His head unfortunately cracks open in two halves. Then his wife comes
along the beach singing a song and sees the 2 halves and recognizes them and picks
them up. She gets very sad of course and cries heart breakingly. That is exactly where I
am tired of poetry. Supposing the lady just picks up the 2 halves and shouts into them
very angrily "Stop that!" Do not mention this when you answer his letter, however. It is
quite controversial and Mrs. Mandell is a poet besides.
Get Sven's address in Elizabeth, New Jersey. It would be interesting to meet his wife,
also his dog Lindy. However, I would not like to own a dog myself.
Write condolence letter to Dr. Wokawara about his nephritis. Get his new address from
mother.
Try the sports deck for meditation tomorrow morning before breakfast but do not lose
consciousness. Also do not lose consciousness in the dining room if that waiter drops
that big spoon again. Daddy was quite furious.
Words and expressions to look up in library tomorrow when you return the books--
Nephritis
myriad
gift horse
cunning
triumvirate
Be nicer to librarian. Discuss some general things with him when he gets kittenish.
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