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"Why, none of the English here with horses worthy of sale and Saint Stephen
knows that the local people have none," said Brian, "would sell four legs of
anything to us."
He paused to drink deeply from his wine cup.
"As is not surprising," he went on, "seeing such horses are not replaceable,
except by ship from home. We tried hither, we tried thither; but not a seller
could we find."
He paused, obviously for dramatic effect.
"Go on," Giles urged him impatiently.
"Then a stroke of luck came upon us," went on Brian to Jim. "We found Percy,
the younger son of Lord Belmont, who had a full string of horses just by ship
fromEngland , which he was about to take with him to his father and his
father's retinue. My Lord Belmont has already taken a small but comfortable
holding for his entourage, some five miles beyond the town. Sir Percy and the
beasts were fresh off the boat; and we met him before his father had had a
chance to see him, or them."
Once more he paused, obviously again for dramatic effect. Once more Giles
urged him on.
They were acting, thought Jim, with inward amusement, like a pair of
well-rehearsed amateur comedians.
"Well& " began Brian, drawing the word out with malicious humor. The delay was
too much for Giles.
"You see, James," Giles put in hastily, "Sir Percy had certain debts of which
his father would disapprove "
"I will tell it, Giles," broke in Brian hurriedly. "Sir Percy had private
debts that Lord Belmont would have been exceeding wroth about. In short, he
needed money."
"So you bought the horses from him?" asked Jim.
"That was my first thought," said Giles, "but Brian, here, had a better idea.
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Sir Percy's debts were from the dice."
"He was a gambler?" Jim asked.
"A greater one I vow there never was," said Sir Brian. "The mere touch of the
dice in his hand made his eyes light up.Though I did not see that until after
I had suggested to him that we dice for the horses, their price against the
beasts themselves; and the winner to take both."
Jim blinked and hoped that that was all the expression he had shown. The
sudden realization that Brian had been cheerfully ready to lose the relatively
large amount of cash Jim had given him, in an attempt to win the horses they
needed by gambling, hit him like one of Brian's blows on his helm during their
practice bouts of the winter before.
"At first," said Brian, "Ilost, it seemed, on every throw of the dice I made.
Percy was overjoyed."
Jim's heart sank. In spite of his having guessed the outcome of this matter,
the thought of his money being cheerfully gambled away when there was no
possible means of replenishing it until they were back in England, left him
with a cold feeling. But Brian went on.
"In fact, finally the moneys I still held had gotten so low that I told Percy
that I would cease gambling unless he was willing to wager double the amount
against what I put forward, so as to give me a chance to recoup my losses."
"Brian!" said Jim. "That was taking a chance! All he had to do was sit tight
and you wouldnot only not have horses, you'd be left without enough money to
buy some anyplace else."
"Not at all, James," answered Brian. "As I told you, the mere feel of the
dice in his hand made his eyes light up. I had the measure of the man. He
could no more stop gambling than most men could pass up a lusty tourney, to
sit idle in the stands, watching whilst others traded good blows before the
eyes of all. Oh, he complained that this was not the way things were done; but
when I pointed out that he had no choice in the matter, he gave in."
"And then, you began winning?" Jim asked.
"Well, no. At first, on every pass I continued to lose," said Brian.
"Indeed," put in Giles, "I was thinking it had become a most serious matter.
But hah! I had faith in Brian. And that faith "
" was justified," said Brian quickly. "In short, James, at the last I began
to win. Percy sweated; and finally, when our funds on the table were equal
again, in decency I had to go back to even stakes with him. But I had his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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