His
contempt for my discernment was not, especially, flattering; but,
sometimes, it does no harm to be taken for a fool--if one is not. And
I was conceited enough to consider myself the latter. Which, however,
may only have proven that Lotzen was right.
"And for me, too, at present," I answered.
"At present?" he echoed, blowing a succession of smoke rings and
watching them float away.
I nodded. "She will get tired of the game, presently, and quit."
"She has stuck to it rather persistently," he observed; "and crossed
the seas to play it."
"Yes," said I, "she did just that; yet she is none the less liable to
quit abruptly to-morrow."
That would interest him, I thought. It did.
"You are judging from experience?" he asked, rather quickly.
"I've known the lady for a few years," I laughed, "and I've yet to find
her true either to herself or to the hand that paid her."
It was characteristic of the man that, at these last words, he made no
quick glance at my face. Instead, he studied the end of his cigar.
When he did look at me, it was in the perfectly natural way of asking a
question.
Then I got a start. He suddenly struck straight from the shoulder.
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