Elrief poured the cognac as though he were the host. He himself was drinking his eighth glass. Fraulein Mitzi Rihoscheck swayed her body and hummed a soundless melody. Tugut gathered the scattered cards and shuffled them. The consul remained silent. Suddenly he called for the waiter and ordered two new, fresh decks of cards. Everyone's eyes lit up. The consul glanced at his watch and said, "Till half past two on the dot, and that's final!"

It was five minutes after two.

VII

The consul put down a bank larger than any this company had ever seen-three thousand gulden. Apart from the players and a single waiter, there was not a soul left in the cafe. The song of the morning birds was already drifting in through the open door. The consul lost, but for the time being he maintained himself as banker. Elrief had completely recovered his losses and withdrew from the game upon a warning glance from Fraulein Rihoscheck. The others, all somewhat ahead, played on modestly and carefully. Half the bank was still intact.

"The whole bank!" Willi suddenly proposed, and was frightened at his own words-at the very tone of his voice. Have I lost my mind? he wondered. The consul uncovered a nine, and Willi was fifteen hundred gulden the poorer. Remembering Flegmann's system, Willi now put down a ridiculously small sum, fifty gulden-and won. How stupid! he thought. I could have won the whole amount back at once! Why was I so cowardly'?

"The bank, again!"

He lost.

"The bank, once more!"

The consul appeared to hesitate.

"What has come over you, Kasda!" cried the regiment doctor.

Willi laughed and felt an intoxication rise into his head. Was it the cognac that was dulling his reason? Evidently. Of course he had made a mistake, not in his wildest dreams had he intended to risk a thousand or two thousand on a single bet.

"Excuse me, Consul, I really meant-"

The consul did not let him finish. In an amiable tone he said, "If you didn't know how much money was in the bank, of course I will take your retraction into consideration."

"What do you mean, retraction into consideration, Consul?" Willi found himself saying. "A bet is a bet."

Was it really he who was speaking? His words? His voice? If he were to lose, it would be all over with the new military cape, the new sword belt, the dinners in attractive female company. He would have left only the thousand earmarked for that swindler Bogner-and he himself would be the same poor devil that he had been two hours ago.

Wordlessly, the consul uncovered his card. Nine. No one uttered the number out loud, yet it resounded loudly throughout the room like the echo of a ghost. Willi felt a strange moisture on his brow. Damn, that was quick! Well, at any rate, he still had a thousand gulden lying in front of him, maybe a few more. He didn't want to count them-that would bring bad luck. In any case, he was still considerably richer than he had been when he had stepped off the train today at noon.