‘‘Run along now.’’ ‘‘Better?’’ the boy queried hopefully. Ross stuck out his lower lip. ‘‘ You’re still leaving yourself wide open whenever you use your left.’’ ‘‘ Tomorrow?’’ the boy asked, attempting to conceal his disappointment. ‘‘No, not tomorrow.’’ ‘‘The next day?’’ ‘‘All right, Wednesday. The same time. Ten o’clock. Now beat it.’’ As the boy leapt down the stairs Ross crossed the landing from the empty attic where they had been boxing to his own room. He dipped his sponge in the earthenware pitcher of water which stood in an enamel basin, slipped off his shorts, and began briskly to rub the sweat off his body. He had told the boy to come again on Wednesday and now he remembered that he had decided to look for another room. Something like regret came over him. He had so often thought Tonio and his sister nuisances for perpetually interfering in his life, but he wondered if he would really like to live somewhere where he would not have them near him.
