'Steady, my friend!' he enjoined himself.
Now, two hundred francs should be the merest trifle to a man who has won sixty-three thousand francs. Henry, however, had not won sixty-three thousand francs. On the other hand, it was precisely Henry who had paid sixty-five francs for lunch for two that day, and Henry who had lent Tom a hundred and seventy-five francs, and Henry who had paid Tom's hotel bill in Paris, and Henry who had left England with just fifty-five pounds—a sum which he had imagined to be royally ample for his needs on the Continent.
He considered the situation.
He had his return-ticket from Monte Carlo to Paris, and his return-ticket from Paris to London. He probably owed fifty francs at the hotel, and he possessed a note for a hundred francs, two notes for fifty francs, some French gold and silver, and some English silver.
Continuing to play upon his faultless system, he lost another fifty francs.
'I can ask her to lend me something. I won all that lot for her,' he said.
'You know perfectly well you can't ask her to lend you something,' said an abstract reasoning power within him. 'It's just because you won all that lot for her that you can't. You'd be afraid lest she should think you were sponging on her. Can you imagine yourself asking her?'
'Well, I can ask Tom,' he said.
'Tom!' exclaimed the abstract reasoning power.
'I can wire to Snyder,' he said.