DOI article:
Harland, Henry: The friend of man
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.38746#0082
The Friend of Man
78
The thing was done without the faintest effort at concealment,
in a room where at least forty pairs of eyes were fixed upon him.
There was, of course, an immediate uproar. In an instant
every one was on his feet; Mr. Ambrose was surrounded. Men
were shaking their fists in his face, screaming at him excitedly,
calling him ugly names. He gazed at them placidly, vaguely.
It was clear he did not grasp the situation.
Somebody must needs intervene.
u I saw what Monsieur did. I am sure it was with no ill
intention. He made no effort at concealment. It was done in
a fit of absence of mind. Look at him. He is a very old man.
You can see he is bewildered. He does not even yet understand
what has happened. He should never have come here, at his age.
He should never have been allowed to take the bank. Let the
croupier pay both sides. Then I will take Monsieur away.”
Somehow I got him out of the Casino, and led him to his hotel,
a small hotel in the least favoured quarter of the town, the name
of which I had a good deal of difficulty in extracting from him.
On the way thither scarcely a word passed between us. I forbore
to tell him who I was ; of course, he did not recognise me. But
all the while a pertinacious little voice within me insisted : “ He
did it deliberately. He deliberately tried to cheat. With his
gaze concentrated on his vision, he could see nothing else ; he
could see no harm in trying to cheat at cards. He needed money
—it didn’t matter how he obtained it. The other players were
phantasms—where’s the harm in cheating phantasms ? Only he
forgot—or, rather, he never realised—that the phantasms had eyes,
that they could see. That’s why he made no effort at conceal-
ment.”—Was the voice right or wrong ?
I parted with him at the door of his hotel ; but the next day a
feeling grew within me that I ought to call upon him, that I
ought
78
The thing was done without the faintest effort at concealment,
in a room where at least forty pairs of eyes were fixed upon him.
There was, of course, an immediate uproar. In an instant
every one was on his feet; Mr. Ambrose was surrounded. Men
were shaking their fists in his face, screaming at him excitedly,
calling him ugly names. He gazed at them placidly, vaguely.
It was clear he did not grasp the situation.
Somebody must needs intervene.
u I saw what Monsieur did. I am sure it was with no ill
intention. He made no effort at concealment. It was done in
a fit of absence of mind. Look at him. He is a very old man.
You can see he is bewildered. He does not even yet understand
what has happened. He should never have come here, at his age.
He should never have been allowed to take the bank. Let the
croupier pay both sides. Then I will take Monsieur away.”
Somehow I got him out of the Casino, and led him to his hotel,
a small hotel in the least favoured quarter of the town, the name
of which I had a good deal of difficulty in extracting from him.
On the way thither scarcely a word passed between us. I forbore
to tell him who I was ; of course, he did not recognise me. But
all the while a pertinacious little voice within me insisted : “ He
did it deliberately. He deliberately tried to cheat. With his
gaze concentrated on his vision, he could see nothing else ; he
could see no harm in trying to cheat at cards. He needed money
—it didn’t matter how he obtained it. The other players were
phantasms—where’s the harm in cheating phantasms ? Only he
forgot—or, rather, he never realised—that the phantasms had eyes,
that they could see. That’s why he made no effort at conceal-
ment.”—Was the voice right or wrong ?
I parted with him at the door of his hotel ; but the next day a
feeling grew within me that I ought to call upon him, that I
ought