Gordon Dickson Dragon 02 The Dragon Knight (v1.4)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Therefore he lost.And lost.And lost.And lost& until I had won back not only
all my money but all that he had with him as well."
"Whereupon, with our regrets that his fortune had been so ill," said Giles,
"we told him we must take our leave together with our winnings."
"And he let you take his horses too?" Jim said.
"What else could he do," said Brian, "being a gentleman? I did him some small
favor, by buying the saddles and bridles from him and paying him back in money
for these. Still, it is not to be denied that it was an unhappy man we left."
Page 111
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
In fact, Jim was feeling a good deal of sympathy, and a certain amount of
guilt, toward the hapless Sir Percy, who now had to face his irate father
without either horses or money. Obviously, however, his two companions did not
share these feelings of his at all.
"Is it not a day of great luck for us, James?" beamed Sir Brian. "I cannot,
at the moment, remember, and Giles likewise, which Saint's Day this is. But I
shall find out and mark it down for future notice when I have things of risk
to consider; since obviously the good Saint aids me whoever he may be at this
particular time. We should order up some more wine, I think. But first "
He dived into his purse again, once more spilled the money from it on the
table, and pushed it in Jim's direction.
"My Lord," he said grandly, "the money you entrusted to me, and a trifle
more, as witness that your true and loyal servant Sir Brian has fulfilled his
duty!"
Jim looked at the pile of money almost with dismay. There should be some way
he could take advantage of this moment, he thought and then he had it.
"Since this has been handled so well," he replied in roughly the same formal
tone Brian had used, "I can see no better use for it than to leave it in such
able hands."
He reached out and roughly with the side of his hand divided the coins into
two groups.
"Doeach of you take half," he said, "and keep or use it as necessary to our
common need."
Inside he felt a private glee. For once he had been able to take a social
custom of the upper classes in this world and use it to gain his own end. One
of the strongly ingrained elements of this society was generosity on the part
of the superiors toward inferiors. Not only were the recipients inclined to be
grateful; but it would be almost an insult for them to refuse such gifts.
He had judged rightly.
With happiness and properly expressed thanks, Brian and Giles took their
individual piles of the money, making no attempt to count the coins to see if
one pile's worth equaled that of the other, and stuffed the coins into their
purses. Jim was thoroughly pleased. He had succeeded in doing what he had
wanted to do for some time; which was to find an acceptable way of supplying
the other two with pocket cash to get around in this strange country.
"And now for the wine!" said Giles.
Jim's two companions were clearly in the mood for a celebration. It was not
exactly what Jim wanted to meet the spy with two half-drunken companions. The
spy would be giving them information they would need to remember. Also, Jim
wanted them to hear what he heard, so that he could check his own memory
against them.
"By all means," he seconded Giles's suggestion. "However, I'd suggest that we
all drink rather lightly. We have an important evening ahead of us. The spy
who was supposed to get in touch with me did so, today, this afternoon. He'll
be back at evening, here in this room, to talk to us all."
Page 112
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
This news, as he had guessed, caught their imagination immediately. All
thoughts of a celebration were put aside. The time until evening passed in
impatient waiting, particularly on the part of Brian and Giles, and discussion
of what might be involved in the rescue of the Prince.
The conclusion reached by all this conjecture was no more than a general
agreement that the Prince must be being held secretly someplace, undoubtedly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Podstrony