"And are you really unable to avoid this—this—unpleasantness?"
"Utterly unable," replied M. Delange.
"Come, let us think it over. Two heads are better than one. Is there no one who would help you out of your difficulty? You have plenty of friends, and rich ones, too."
"The amount is too large. I should never manage to get hold of so much all at once."
He stopped, hesitated for a moment or two, and then, taking courage, said—
"You, and you alone, can, if you will, get me out of this scrape."
"I! Do you imagine that I could lend you ninety thousand francs? My dear fellow, if you only knew how terribly I am in want of money just now, and what expense I am put to! I am, as you may perhaps have heard, about to undertake a tremendously costly journey, and I am bound to scrape together every farthing I can get hold of."
"You do not understand me," replied the Doctor. "I do not ask you to lend me this amount; I only ask you not to press me for payment at once."
"I do not understand you now. Please explain."
"Did you not win about ninety thousand francs the other night?"