MS-HRC-SB-4-3

[1846] for a time an old yellow hand. But these were probably no more than
the agents of a consortium. [1847] And indee ^{[place = margin left] d} the silence at times is cuh
such that the earth seems uninhabited. [1848] That is what comes of the
taste for generalisation. [1849] You have only to hear nothing for a few
days, in your hole, nothing but the sounds of things, and you begin
to fancy yourself the last of human kind. [1850] What if I started to
scream? [1851] Not that I wish to dra w draw attention to myself, simply
to try and find out if there is someone about.

[1852] But I don't like
screal ^{[place = overwritten] m}ing. [1853] I have spoken softly, gone my ways softly, all my days,
as behoves one who has nothing to say, nowhere to go, [1854] and so noth-
ing to gain by being seen or heard. [1855] Not to mention the possibility
of their ^{[place = margin left] re} being not a living soul within a radius of one hundred
yards, and then such a ^{[place = margin left] [₰]} multitude ^{[place = margin left] s} of people that they are walking
on top of one another. [1856] They do not dare come near me. [1857] In that case
i ^{[place = margin left] I} could scream my head off to no purpose. [1858] I shall try all the same.

[1859] I have tried. [1860] I heard nothing out of the ordinary. [1861] No, I exaggerate
I heard a kind of burning croak deep down in the windpipe, as
when one has heartburn. [1862] With practice I might produce a groan,
before I die. [1864] I am not sleepy any more. [1865] In any case I must not
sleep any more. [1866] What tedium. [1867] I have missed the ebb. [1868] Did I say I
only say a small proportion of the things that come into my head?

[1869] I must have. [1870] I choose those that seem somehow akin. [1871] It is not al-
ways easy. [1872] I hope they are the most important. [1873] I wonder if I shall
ever be able to stop. [1874] Perhaps I should throw away my lead. [1875] I could
never retrieve it now. [1876] I might be sorry. [1877] My little lead. [1878] It is a
risk I do not feel inclined to take, just now. [1879] What then? [1880] I wonder
if I could not contrive, wielding my stick like a punt-pole, to