ose acquaintance I had made at a
ball, did me the honour of this lesson at the native game of
poker, at which I--though also native--am not even so expert as
yourself, and, as you will admit, Antonio, my friend, you are not
a good player--when observed. Unaided, I was a child in their
hands. It was also a painful rule that one paid for the counters
upon delivery. This made me ill, but I carried it off with an air
of carelessness creditable to an adopted Neapolitan. Upon receipt
of the money you are to cable me, I shall leave this town and sail
immediately. Come to Paris, and meet me there at the place on the
Rue Auber within ten days from your reading this letter. You will
have, remaining, two hundred and twenty-five thousand francs,
which it will be safer to bring in cash, and I will deal well with
you, as is our custom with each other. You have done excellently
throughout; your cables and letters for exhibition concerning
those famous oil wells have been perfection; and I shall of course
not deduct what was taken by these thieves of poker players from
the sum of profits upon which we shall estimate your commission. I
have several times had the feeling that the hour for departure had
arrived; now I shall delay not a moment after receiving your
cable, though I may occupy the interim with a last attempt to
interest my small miser. Various circumstances cause me some
uneasiness, though I do not believe I could be successfully
assailed by the law in the matter of oil. You do own an estate in
Basilicata, at least your brother does--these good people here
would not be apt to discover the difference--and the rest is a
matter of plausibility. The odious coincidence of encountering the
old cow, Pryor, fretted me somewhat (though he has not repeated
his annoying call), and I have other small apprehensions--for
example, that it may not improve my credit if my loss of last
night becomes gossip, though the thieves professed strong habits
of discretion. My little affair of gallantry grows embarrassing.
Such affairs are so easy to inaugurate; extrication is more
difficult. However, without it I should have failed to interest my
investor and there is always the charm. Your last letter is too
curious in that matter. Licentious man, one does not write of
these things while under the banner of the illustrious Uncle
Sam--I am assuming the American attitude while here, or perhaps my
early youth returns to me--a thing very different from y