And in that case, he added, it was really not merely a vice but a fraud, and a fraud of a particularly cowardly kind at that. There was a moment of silence at this. But fortunately Herr Elrief appeared at this moment with a flower in his buttonhole and victory in his eyes. "You tore yourself away from the ovations?" asked Greising. "I don't appear in the fourth act," answered the actor, and carelessly drew off his glove as though rehearsing for an upcoming role as a viscount or marquis. Greising lit a cigar.

"Better if you didn't smoke!" said Dr. Tugut.

"But my dear doctor! There's nothing wrong with my throat any more," answered Greising.

The consul had ordered a few bottles of Hungarian wine. The company toasted one another. Willi looked at his watch. "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I have to go. The last train leaves at 1o:4o." "Finish your wine," said the consul. "I'll have my carriage bring you to the station." "Oh. Consul, thank you, sir, but I can't...."

"Yes, you can," interrupted First Lieutenant Wimmer.

"Well, what's going on?" Dr. Tugut asked. "Are we going to continue playing tonight?"

No one had doubted that the session would be continued after dinner. The same thing happened every Sunday. "But not for long," the consul said.

"Lucky devils!" thought Willi, and envied them all the prospect of sitting down at the card table once more to try their luck and possibly win thousands. The actor Elrief, whose wine invariably went promptly to his head, conveyed to the consul a greeting from their mutual lady friend Fraulein Rihoscheck, with an inane and yet impudent expression on his face. "Why didn't you bring the young lady with you, Mr. Mime?" asked Greising. "She'll come later to the cafe to watch-if the consul permits," said Elrief. The consul did not react.

Willi finished his wine and stood up. "Till next Sunday!" said Wimmer. "We'll take a little of that weight off of you then!"

"In that," thought Willi, "you'll be disappointed. It's impossible to lose if one is cautious."

"Would you be so kind, Lieutenant, as to send my coachman immediately back from the station to the cafe?" asked the consul. And turning to the others, he added, "But, gentlemen, we can't play as late, that is, until as early, as we did last time!"

Willi once more saluted all around and turned to go. Suddenly, to his pleasant surprise, he saw that the Kessner family and the lady with the two daughters were sitting at an adjacent table. Neither the ironical lawyer nor the elegant young men who had driven up to the villa in a carriage were there. They greeted the lieutenant most amiably, and he remained standing at the table, gay and unaffected-a chic young officer in comfortable circumstances, not to mention three glasses of strong Hungarian wine, at this moment without rivals. He was invited to sit down but demurred gracefully with a vague gesture toward the entrance where the carriage was waiting for him.