Natural Enemy
Page 26
He was gone, slamming the door behind him.
Owen stared at Homer, shaken to the core.
Homer stood up and tore angrily at his hair. “You know, Owen, the man scares me. He’s dangerous. A conference like that is unhealthy. I mean it, speaking as an ex-cop. What you’ll get is a collection of snarling tigers. Everything at a fever pitch of ambition and jealousy and character assassination. All those professors, they look so mild and easygoing on the surface, but underneath it’s the law of the jungle. Violence, that’s what you’ll get! I mean, look what that fool did, Dombey Dell.” Homer displayed the torn sleeve of his jacket. “He jumped me from the rear. A savage attack.”
“Oh, yes, I know,” murmured Owen, sinking his head into his hands. “And the man does have such an unfortunate way of expressing himself.”
“You mean, all that stuff about digging Emily Dickinson out of her grave? Listen, Owen, I’ll tell you what it’s like. Remember those people who discovered the tomb of King Tut? You know, they broke the seals and burst in and took away all the mummies and the gold and everything? You know what happened to them? Death and destruction!”
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copyright © 1982 by Jane Langton
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