"But, Anna," I said, "why have you not told me this before?"
"Because," she replied, "you make a scoff of sacred things--for which I am afraid you will be punished unless I pray you off; and I try hard to--yes, Master Fink, I pray for you every day of my life."
"You do me a great wrong," I said; "never in my life have I scoffed at sacred things."
"You don't believe in the Devil," she said, shaking her head dolefully.
"Not in the way you do, Anna. But it would be foolish for us to discuss religious matters. When you find me doing an evil action, then will be the time to pray for me. Did you ever see Gideon play cards again in that way?"
"A dozen times at least. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. When he wins there is an unholy light in his eyes; when he loses he curses and swears and walks up and down the room, clinching his fists and waving them in the air. But if I had not seen what I have seen it would not alter my opinion of him. If he were an honest man--which he is not and a handsome man--which he is not and if he didn't play cards with the Devil--even then he is no fit lover for an innocent girl like Katrine Loebeg. And so I shall tell her, whether she likes it or not."
"Do so," I said, "and I will also speak to her."
"It is your duty, Master Fink. You knew her father, and respected him. If he were alive this day he would take that comrade of the Evil One by the neck between his finger and thumb and send him spinning into the gutter. If I were a man I'd do it myself. You seem to know very little of this Gideon Wolf of yours. I'll tell you something else concerning him. Who do you think he goes to see every Friday night, as regularly as clock-work?"
"I cannot guess."
"Pretzel the miser, who lives in the Temple--Pretzel, your enemy with the evil eye, who hasn't a friend in the world but Gideon Wolf--Pretzel, that the little children run away from when he shows his ugly face, and that the very dogs in the streets snarl and bark at! Now I've given you a good stomach full, Master Fink, and I wish you joy of your apprentice."