New Arabian Nights | Page 6

of bank-notes.

"You see, I was a week or so behind you, but I mean to catch you up
and come neck and neck into the winning-post," he continued. "This,"
laying one of the notes upon the table, "will suffice for the bill. As for
the rest - "
He tossed them into the fire, and they went up the chimney in a single
blaze.
The young man tried to catch his arm, but as the table was between
them his interference came too late.
"Unhappy man," he cried, "you should not have burned them all! You
should have kept forty pounds."
"Forty pounds!" repeated the Prince. "Why, in heaven's name, forty
pounds?"
"Why not eighty?" cried the Colonel; "for to my certain knowledge
there must have been a hundred in the bundle."
"It was only forty pounds he needed," said the young man gloomily.
"But without them there is no admission. The rule is strict. Forty
pounds for each. Accursed life, where a man cannot even die without
money!"
The Prince and the Colonel exchanged glances. "Explain yourself," said
the latter. "I have still a pocket-book tolerably well lined, and I need
not say how readily I should share my wealth with Godall. But I must
know to what end: you must certainly tell us what you mean."
The young man seemed to awaken; he looked uneasily from one to the
other, and his face flushed deeply.
"You are not fooling me?" he asked. "You are indeed ruined men like
me?"
"Indeed, I am for my part," replied the Colonel.
"And for mine," said the Prince, "I have given you proof. Who but a

ruined man would throw his notes into the fire? The action speaks for
itself."
"A ruined man - yes," returned the other suspiciously, "or else a
millionaire."
"Enough, sir," said the Prince; "I have said so, and I am not accustomed
to have my word remain in doubt."
"Ruined?" said the young man. "Are you ruined, like me? Are you,
after a life of indulgence, come to such a pass that you can only indulge
yourself in one thing more? Are you" - he kept lowering his voice as he
went on - "are you going to give yourselves that last indulgence? Are
you going to avoid the consequences of your folly by the one infallible
and easy path? Are you going to give the slip to the sheriff's officers of
conscience by the one open door?"
Suddenly he broke off and attempted to laugh.
"Here is your health!" he cried, emptying his glass, "and good night to
you, my merry ruined men."
Colonel Geraldine caught him by the arm as he was about to rise.
"You lack confidence in us," he said, "and you are wrong. To all your
questions I make answer in the affirmative. But I am not so timid, and
can speak the Queen's English plainly. We too, like yourself, have had
enough of life, and are determined to die. Sooner or later, alone or
together, we meant to seek out death and beard him where he lies ready.
Since we have met you, and your case is more pressing, let it be
to-night - and at once - and, if you will, all three together. Such a
penniless trio," he cried, "should go arm in arm into the halls of Pluto,
and give each other some countenance among the shades!"
Geraldine had hit exactly on the manners and intonations that became
the part he was playing. The Prince himself was disturbed, and looked
over at his confidant with a shade of doubt. As for the young man, the
flush came back darkly into his cheek, and his eyes threw out a spark of

light.
"You are the men for me!" he cried, with an almost terrible gaiety.
"Shake hands upon the bargain!" (his hand was cold and wet). "You
little know in what a company you will begin the march! You little
know in what a happy moment for yourselves you partook of my cream
tarts! I am only a unit, but I am a unit in an army. I know Death's
private door. I am one of his familiars, and can show you into eternity
without ceremony and yet without scandal."
They called upon him eagerly to explain his meaning.
"Can you muster eighty pounds between you?" he demanded.
Geraldine ostentatiously consulted his pocket-book, and replied in the
affirmative.
"Fortunate beings!" cried the young man. "Forty pounds is the entry
money of the Suicide Club."
"The Suicide Club," said the Prince, "why, what the devil is that?"
"Listen," said the young man; "this is the age of conveniences, and I
have to tell you of the last perfection of the sort. We have affairs in
different places; and hence railways were invented.