human
And she won't have you,
gpt
Oh, she's no fool, I suppose. Honest Injun, Jack, it's so bad that I find myself writing poetry on the backs of envelopes. And now she's going to Europe!
human
London?
gpt
No. Some manager has the idea in his head that there is money to be made in Italy and Germany during the spring and summer. American comic-opera in those countries; can you imagine it? He has an angel, and I suppose money is no object.
human
This angel, then, has cut out a fine time for his bank account, and he'll never get back to heaven, once he gets tangled up in foreign red-tape. Every large city in Italy and Germany has practically its own opera troupe. In full season it is grand opera, out of season it is comic-opera, not the American kind; _Martha_, _The Bohemian Girl_, _The Mascotte_, _The Grand Duchess_, and the like. And oh! my boy, the homeliest chorus you ever dreamed of seeing; but they can sing. It's only the ballerina who must have looks and figure. Poor angel! Tell your Kitty to strike for a return ticket to America before she leaves.
gpt
You think it's as bad as that?
human
Look on me as a prophet of evil, if you like, but truthful.
gpt
I'll see that Kitty gets her ticket. Merrihew snapped the case of his watch and drew his legs from under the table.
human
I lost a hundred last night, too.
gpt
After that I suppose nothing worse can happen, said Hillard cheerily.
human
You will play, for all my advice.
gpt
It's better to give than receive ... that, replied Merrihew philosophically.
human
I've a good mind to follow the company. I've always had a hankering to beat it up at Monte Carlo. A last throw, eh? Win or lose, and quit. I might.
gpt
And then again you mightn't. But the next time I go to Italy, I want you to go with me. You're good company, and for the pleasure of listening to your jokes I'll gladly foot the bills, and you may gamble your letter of credit to your heart's content. I must be off. Who is riding the Sandfords' black?
human
Haven't noticed. What do you think of Kitty?
gpt
Charming.
human
And the photo isn't a marker.
gpt
Possibly not.
human
Lord, if I could only hibernate for three months, like a bear! My capital might then readjust itself, if left alone that length of time. Jack, why the deuce haven't I a relation I never heard of, who would politely die to-morrow and leave me that beggarly thousand? I'm not asking for much. The harder I chase it, the faster it runs ahead.
gpt
Some day I'm going to enter that thousand in the Suburban handicap. And won't there be a killing!
human
It wouldn't do you any good to borrow it?
gpt
In that case I should owe two thousand instead of one. No, thank you. Shall I see you at the club to-night?
human
Perhaps. Good-by.