Mostly harmless

`Excuse me,' said Arthur. The man ignored him. Perhaps he couldn't hear him. The breeze was moving about a bit. It was only by chance that Arthur had heard the slight cough. `Hello?' called Arthur. `Hello!'

The man at last glanced round at him. He seemed surprised to see him. Arthur couldn't tell if he was surprised and pleased to see him or just surprsised. `Are you open?' called Arthur.

The man frowned in incomprehension. Arthur couldn't tell if he couldn't understand or couldn't hear.

4 See Life, the Universe and Everything, {\bf Chapter 18}. `I'll pop over,' called Arthur. `Don't go away.'

He clambered off the small platform and climbed quickly down the spiralling pegs, arriving at the bottom quite dizzy.

He started to make his way over to the pole on which the old man was sitting, and then suddenly realised that he had disoriented himself on the way down and didn't know for certain which one it was.

He looked around for landmarks and worked out which was the right one.

He climbed it. It wasn't. `Damn,' he said. `Excuse me!' he called out to the old man again, who was now straight in front of him and forty feet away. `Got lost. Be with you in a minute.' Down he went again, getting very hot and bothered.

When he arrived, panting and sweating, at the top of the pole that he knew for certain was the right one he realised that the man was, somehow or other, mucking him about. `What do you want?' shouted the old man crossly at him. He was now sitting on top of the pole that Arthur recognised was the one that he had been on himself when eating his sandwich. `How did you get over there?' called Arthur in bewilderment. `You think I'm going to tell you just like that what it took me forty springs, summers and autumns of sitting on top of a pole to work out?' `What about winter?' file:///E|/...ooks/Novels/Collections/700%20Scifi,%20Fantasy,%20And%20Classic%20Ebooks/Adams,%20Douglas/Mostly%20Harmless.txt[9/5/2013 12:21:25 PM]