The door of Henry’s lunch-room opened and two men came in. They sat down at the counter.
‘What’s yours?’ George asked them.
‘I don’t know,’ one of the men said. ‘What do you want to eat, Al?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Al. ‘I don’t know what I want to eat.’
Outside it was getting dark. The street light came on outside the window. The two men at the counter read the menu. From the other end of the counter Nick Adams watched them. He had been talking to George when they came in.
‘I’ll have a roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes,' the first man said.
‘It isn’t ready yet.’
‘What the hell do you put it on the card for?’
‘That’s the dinner,’ George explained. ‘You can get that at six o'clock.’
George looked at the clock on the wall behind the counter.
‘It’s five o'clock’
‘The clock says twenty minutes past five,’ the second man said.
‘It’s twenty minutes fast.’
‘Oh, to hell with the clock,’ the first man said. ‘What have you got to eat?’
‘I can give you any kind of sandwiches,’ George said. ‘You can have ham and eggs, bacon and eggs, liver and bacon, or a steak.’
‘Give me chicken croquettes with green peas and cream sauce and mashed potatoes.’
‘That’s the dinner.’
‘Everything we want’s the dinner, eh? That’s the way you work it.’
‘I can give you ham and eggs, bacon and eggs, liver –’
‘I’ll take ham and eggs,’ the man called Al Said. He wore a derby hat and a black overcoat buttoned across the chest. His face was small and white and he had tight lips. He wore a silk muffler and gloves.
‘Give me bacon and eggs,’ said the other man. He was about the same size as Al. Their faces were different, but they were dressed like twins. Both wore overcoats too tight for them. They sat leaning forward, their elbows on the counter.
