human
I don't know, Dan, but this has taken so strong a hold on me that I shan't forget it soon. Imagine it yourself. Oh, but she could sing! I am a man not to be held in the leash of an adventure like this; but she held me. How? By the hope that one day I might see her face, with no veil of mystery to hold her off at arm's length.
gpt
By George! And you are sure that it was at the Sandfords'?
human
I am positive. But there is a puzzle that I have failed to solve: Sandford's cable and the caretaker's declaration. I know that I was in that house. I ran across a stein which I had given Sandford. I have inquired of the police; they had been requested to watch the house in the absence of the owner. The patrolman says that he has seen no light in the house since the family sailed for Africa. I sleep soundly; never have nightmares. And yet, but for her letters and the fact that Giovanni heard her sing under my window, I might almost believe I've been dreaming. It is no dream; but it begins to look as if I were the victim of some fine hoax.
gpt
And Sandford mixed up in it,
human
Sandford and I are good friends, but we are not so intimate that he'd take the pains to work out a hoax of this magnitude. It did not originate with him, and his wife is altogether out of the picture. If I had only seen her face, I might have forgotten all about her in a few days. But the mask, the charm, the mystery! I can't get her out of my thoughts; I am irrational in all I do; an absolute failure in the office.
gpt
It is more than a hoax, in my opinion. Wait till Sandford returns and finds his silver gone!
human
And his gold-plate, continued Merrihew, pleased with the idea.
gpt
My boy, that's what it is; the best dodge I ever heard of. But how did they get into the house, she and her maid? It will make a good story for the Sunday papers. You won't be in it, unless she ropes you in as an accomplice. That would be rich!
human
I'm a romantic ass!
gpt
Let's take that ride on the horses, Merrihew urged.
human
That'll clear your brain of this sentimental fog.
gpt
No! Hillard struck his hands together.
human
I've a better idea than that, and it has just come to me. I shall go to Italy in March, and you, my boy, shall go with me.
gpt
Impossible! Why, I'm all but broke.
human
I'll take you as a companion. I'm a sick man, Dan. I'm likely to jump overboard if some one isn't watching me every minute.
gpt
I'd like to go, Jack; Heaven and earth, but I should! But I can't possibly go to Italy with a letter of credit no more than twenty-five hundred, and that's all there is in the exchequer at present.
human
Between such friends as we are--
gpt
That racket won't work. I could not take a moment's peace if I did not feel independent. Supposing I wanted to come home and you didn't, or you did and I didn't? No, Jack; nothing to it that way.
human
But I'm not going to give it to you! Hillard protested. He was determined to break down Merrihew's objections if it took all night.
gpt
I am going to lend it to you.
human
And could I ever pay you back if I accepted the loan? humorously.
gpt
You'll have to invent some other scheme.
human
There's Monte Carlo; you might pull down a tidy sum,
gpt
That's the way, you beggar; hit me on the soft side.
human
Now listen to reason, Dan. If you wait for the opportunity to go to Europe, you'll wait in vain. You must make the opportunity. One must have youth to enjoy Italy thoroughly. The desire to go becomes less and less as one grows older. Besides, it completes every man's education; it broadens his charity and smooths down the rough edges of his conceit. I'll put the proposition in a way you can't possibly get round. You've simply got to go. You will always have that thousand, so don't worry about that. You have twenty-five hundred on hand, you say. With that you can see Italy like a prince for three months. I know the tongue and the country; I know what you would want to see, what to avoid, where to stop.
gpt
What's the proposition?
human
This: I'll agree to take not a penny more than twenty-five hundred myself. We'll go on equal terms. Why, confidently,