The Black Robe | Page 7

in him. "We are all honorable men," he began.

"And brave men," the Commander added, admiring the General.
"And brave men," the General admitted, admiring the Commander.
"Gentlemen, if I have been led into expressing myself with unnecessary
warmth of feeling, I apologize, and regret it.
"Nobly spoken!" the Commander pronounced. The General put his
hand on his heart and bowed. The game began.
As the poorest man of the two I had escaped the attentions lavished by
the ladies on Romayne. At the same time I was obliged to pay for my
dinner, by taking some part in the proceedings of the evening. Small
stakes were allowed, I found, at roulette; and, besides, the heavy
chances in favor of the table made it hardly worth while to run the risk
of cheating in this case. I placed myself next to the least
rascally-looking man in the company, and played roulette.
For a wonder, I was successful at the first attempt. My neighbor handed
me my winnings. "I have lost every farthing I possess," he whispered to
me, piteously, "and I have a wife and children at home." I lent the poor
wretch five francs. He smiled faintly as he looked at the money. "It
reminds me," he said, "of my last transaction, when I borrowed of that
gentleman there, who is betting on the General's luck at the card table.
Beware of employing him as I did. What do you think I got for my note
of hand of four thousand francs? A hundred bottles of champagne, fifty
bottles of ink, fifty bottles of blacking, three dozen handkerchiefs, two
pictures by unknown masters, two shawls, one hundred maps,
_and_--five francs."
We went on playing. My luck deserted me; I lost, and lost, and lost
again. From time to time I looked round at the card table. The "deal"
had fallen early to the General, and it seemed to be indefinitely
prolonged. A heap of notes and gold (won mainly from Romayne, as I
afterward discovered) lay before him. As for my neighbor, the unhappy
possessor of the bottles of blacking, the pictures by unknown masters,
and the rest of it, he won, and then rashly presumed on his good fortune.
Deprived of his last farthing, he retired into a corner of the room, and
consoled himself with a cigar. I had just arisen, to follow his example,
when a furious uproar burst out at the card table.
I saw Romayne spring up, and snatch the cards out of the General's
hand. "You scoundrel!" he shouted, "you are cheating!" The General
started to his feet in a fury. "You lie!" he cried. I attempted to interfere,

but Romayne had already seen the necessity of controlling himself. "A
gentleman doesn't accept an insult from a swindler," he said, coolly.
"Accept this, then!" the General answered--and spat on him. In an
instant Romayne knocked him down.
The blow was dealt straight between his eyes: he was a gross big-boned
man, and he fell heavily. For the time he was stunned. The women ran,
screaming, out of the room. The peaceable Commander trembled from
head to foot. Two of the men present, who, to give them their due, were
no cowards, locked the doors. "You don't go," they said, "till we see
whether he recovers or not." Cold water, assisted by the landlady's
smelling salts, brought the General to his senses after a while. He
whispered something to one of his friends, who immediately turned to
me. "The General challenges Mr. Romayne," he said. "As one of his
seconds, I demand an appointment for to-morrow morning." I refused
to make any appointment unless the doors were first unlocked, and we
were left free to depart. "Our carriage is waiting outside," I added. "If it
returns to the hotel without us, there will be an inquiry." This latter
consideration had its effect. On their side, the doors were opened. On
our side, the appointment was made. We left the house.
IV.
IN consenting to receive the General's representative, it is needless to
say that I merely desired to avoid provoking another quarrel. If those
persons were really impudent enough to call at the hotel, I had arranged
to threaten them with the interference of the police, and so to put an end
to the matter. Romayne expressed no opinion on the subject, one way
or the other. His conduct inspired me with a feeling of uneasiness. The
filthy insult of which he had been made the object seemed to be
rankling in his mind. He went away thoughtfully to his own room.
"Have you nothing to say to me?" I asked. He only answered: "Wait till
to-morrow."
The next day the seconds appeared.
I had expected to see two of the men with whom we had