'Why not do it?' said Birkin coldly.
Gerald listened with quick impatience. He kept glancing down at Birkin,
as if looking for something from the other man.
'I used to do some Japanese wrestling,' said Birkin. 'A Jap lived in
the same house with me in Heidelberg, and he taught me a little. But I
was never much good at it.' 'You did!' exclaimed Gerald. 'That's one of the things I've never ever
seen done. You mean jiu-jitsu, I suppose?' 'Yes. But I am no good at those things--they don't interest me.' 'They don't? They do me. What's the start?' 'I'll show you what I can, if you like,' said Birkin.
'You will?' A queer, smiling look tightened Gerald's face for a moment,
as he said, 'Well, I'd like it very much.' 'Then we'll try jiu-jitsu. Only you can't do much in a starched shirt.' 'Then let us strip, and do it properly. Hold a minute--' He rang the
bell, and waited for the butler.
'Bring a couple of sandwiches and a syphon,' he said to the man, 'and
then don't trouble me any more tonight--or let anybody else.' The man went. Gerald turned to Birkin with his eyes lighted.
'And you used to wrestle with a Jap?' he said. 'Did you strip?' 'Sometimes.' 'You did! What was he like then, as a wrestler?' 'Good, I believe. I am no judge. He was very quick and slippery and
full of electric fire. It is a remarkable thing, what a curious sort of
fluid force they seem to have in them, those people not like a human
grip--like a polyp--' Gerald nodded.
'I should imagine so,' he said, 'to look at them. They repel me,
rather.' 'Repel and attract, both. They are very repulsive when they are cold,
and they look grey. But when they are hot and roused, there is a
definite attraction--a curious kind of full electric fluid--like eels.' 'Well--yes--probably.' The man brought in the tray and set it down.
'Don't come in any more,' said Gerald.
The door closed.
'Well then,' said Gerald; 'shall we strip and begin? Will you have a
drink first?' 'No, I don't want one.' 'Neither do I.' Gerald fastened the door and pushed the furniture aside. The room was
large, there was plenty of space, it was thickly carpeted. Then he
quickly threw off his clothes, and waited for Birkin. The latter, white
and thin, came over to him. Birkin was more a presence than a visible
object, Gerald was aware of him completely, but not really visually.
Whereas Gerald himself was concrete and noticeable, a piece of pure
final substance.