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evening,” put down her books, and made the mistake of catching the eye of the plump, freckled woman, front row, center seat, who was never after to let Ilka go. Ilka was aware of the pull of the orange-brown gaze as she addressed, lamely enough, the eight adult students: “We’ll go around and introduce ourselves. Tell the class your name, please, and where you come from. I will begin. My name is Ilka. I was born in Vienna.”
    “I am coming also from Vienna but after I have lived always in Montevideo!” said the woman in the front row.
    Ilka said, “‘I come from Vienna. After that I always lived in ...’”
    The freckled woman asked, “Which Bezirk you are coming from?”

    “‘Which district ,’” enunciated Ilka, “‘do you come from?’”
    “From Twenty-one,” said the freckled woman.
    Ilka said, “Please, tell the class your name.”
    “Gerti Gruner,” said the woman.
    Gathering her books at the end of class, Ilka avoided the hot and unremitting gaze from behind the students who had come to stand around the teacher’s desk, but Gerti Gruner walked out the door and walked down the corridor to the elevators beside Ilka. She placed herself in front of Ilka and said, “When you have your hours in your office?”
    “Oh,” said Ilka, “I don’t rate an office. I don’t have hours.” She leaned back to increase the distance between Gerti Gruner’s eyes looking at too close a range into Ilka’s eyes. Ilka closed and reopened her eyes and Gerti Gruner was looking into them. Ilka took a step backward and Gerti took a step forward to reestablish the original range and said, “You come to my house, isn’t it? I cook Viennese.”
    Ilka said, “Well, thank you! Maybe some time when the semester has settled in.”
    Gerti Gruner came down the elevator and walked out of the building beside Ilka. Ilka stopped and said, “Well, good-bye.”
    “Which way you are going?” Gerti Gruner asked Ilka.
    “Which way are you going?” Ilka asked Gerti Gruner.
    “I am going that,” said Gerti Gruner.
    “Well,” said Ilka. “I go this.”
    “I can go this also,” said Gerti Gruner. She walked with a tight, short-stepping walk. Ilka felt her bobbing along. They passed the Bernstines’ house, and the Bernstines were sitting on their covered porch with Alpha and Dr. Alfred Stone. They saw Ilka and waved. Ilka and Gerti passed the Ayes’ house, and they were sitting on their lawn with the Zees.
    On Friday Ilka called the number Leina had given her, which had not answered the first time, and they didn’t answer. Ilka lay
on top of the Rasmussens’ slick green cover. After a while she dialed the number Jacquelyn had given her and was shocked when a woman’s voice said, “Yes?”
    Ilka said, “Could I speak to Norma?”
    “This is Norma.”
    “Oh. Hi! Jacquelyn Rosen told me to give you a call.”
    “Oh? Yes? How is Jacquelyn?”
    “Jacquelyn is fine. She told me to call you and say hello. I’m new in Concordance. And Jacquelyn told me to give you a call.”
    “Well, isn’t that nice of you!” said Norma. “Give Jacquelyn my love when you see her.”
    “Jacquelyn is in New York,” said Ilka. “I’m a new assistant at the institute.”
    “Well, if you write to Jacquelyn,” said Norma, “give her my love.”
    “I sure will.”
    Saturday Ilka called Leina’s number, which had not answered the first or the second time, and they did not answer. So much for them.
    Sunday Maria Zee called. Winterneet should be back from the Coast Tuesday and they might be having people over. Would Ilka look on her calendar and see if she would be free Tuesday?
    Ilka’s calendar showed that she was free Tuesday. She was free Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but on Thursday Ilka waited by the elevators to go up to her class. All the elevators were going down to the basement cafeteria.
    “That’s Murphy!” said a black woman whose grand woolen skirt Ilka had been admiring. The woman wore a witty