Read Online Flotsam by Erich Maria Remarque - Free Book Online Page A

wine after the stale smoke and gray misery of the café. Imust get away, he thought, I must get away at any price. He looked at his watch. Although it was late he decided to try to find the cardsharp.
    The little bar, which the cardsharp had told him was his hangout, was almost empty. Only two showily dressed girls were perched like parrots on high chairs with their feet on the nickel railing of the bar.
    “Has Fred been here?” Steiner asked the barkeep.
    “Fred?” The barkeep looked at him sharply. “What do you want with Fred?”
    “I want to repeat the Lord’s Prayer with him, brother. What did you think?”
    The barkeep reflected for a while. “He left an hour ago,” he said finally.
    “Will he be back?”
    “Couldn’t tell you.”
    “All right, then I’ll wait. Give me a vodka.”
    Steiner waited for about an hour. He thought over all the things he could turn into cash. But it didn’t amount to more than about seventy schillings. The girls had paid him only cursory attention. They sat around for a while longer, then strutted out. The barkeep began to shake and throw dice by himself.
    “Shall we throw a round?” Steiner asked.
    “Go ahead.”
    They threw and Steiner won. They went on playing. Steiner threw four aces twice in succession. “I seem to have luck with aces,” he said.
    “You have luck anyway,” the barkeep replied. “What sign were you born under?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You seem to be a Lion. At least you have the sun in theconstellation of Leo. I know a little about astrology. Last round, eh? Fred won’t be back. He never comes as late as this. Needs sleep and steady hands.”
    They shook and Steiner won again. “See?” said the barkeep in a satisfied tone, pushing over five schillings. “You are most certainly a Lion, with Neptune in the ascendant, I should say. What month were you born in?”
    “August.”
    “Then you’re a perfect Lion. You’ll have magnificent luck this year.”
    “To make up for that I’m taking on a whole forest full of lions.” Steiner emptied his glass. “Tell Fred I was here, will you? Say that Steiner asked for him. I’ll stop in tomorrow about eight.”
    “Right.”
    Steiner went back to the rooming house. The way was long and the streets empty. Above him hung the star-studded sky, and over the walls drifted from time to time the heavy scent of lilacs in bloom. My God, Marie, he thought, this can’t go on forever.

Chapter Four

    KERN WAS STANDING in a drugstore near Wenceslaus Square. He had spied in the window a couple of bottles of toilet water bearing the label of his father’s laboratory.
    “Farr’s Toilet Water!” Kern fondled the bottle the druggist had brought out of the case. “Where did you get this?”
    The druggist shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t remember now. It comes from Germany. We’ve had it for a long time. Do you want to buy that bottle?”
    “Not just this one. Six—”
    “Six?”
    “Yes, six to begin with. More later on. I sell it. Of course I must have a discount.”
    The druggist looked at Kern. “Are you an emigree?” he asked.
    Kern put the bottle down on the counter. “Do you know,” he said angrily, “that question is gradually beginning to bore me—when it’s asked by someone who is not a member of the police. Especially when I have a permit in my pocket. All you have to do is tell me what discount you’ll give.”
    “Ten per cent.”
    “That’s ridiculous. How can I make any money that way?”
    “You can have the bottle at twenty-five per cent discount,” said the owner of the store coming in from the back room. “Thirty per cent if you take ten. We’d be glad to get rid of that old stuff.”
    “Old stuff?” Kern gave the man an offended look. “That’s very fine toilet water, don’t you know that?”
    The owner of the store indifferently dug into his ear with his little finger. “Maybe so. In that case, of course, you’ll be satisfied with twenty per cent.”
    “Thirty