There was something he wanted to say to me, it was time we had a talk. A door opened above us somewhere, he took my arm and drew me hastily behind him down a gloomy passageway beside the stairs. We stepped out into a yard. There were dustbins, and a dank smell. He peered over his shoulder cautiously, then winked at me, digging his tremulous claws into my arm. – Have to be careful, he said. He’s always on the watch. – Who? He laughed. – Who? Who do you think? I followed him down the narrow garden. Everything was overgrown with bindweed and briars. Tall skeletons of last year’s thistles stuck up starkly. The backs of houses rose all around us. The sky was still light. A new moon was visible above the chimney-pots. Felix put his hands in his pockets and stopped to survey the scene. – There is order in everything, he said. Isn’t it wonderful? Look at this place. It seems a wilderness, but underneath it all there’s a garden. He looked at me sidelong, smiling. – What do you say?
