"You!"
"Yes, sir."
"You don't mean it! If I were a young fellow like you, I should be as jolly as a lark always and everywhere. In fact, I am now."
But I could not help feeling that his whiskey was the inspiration of his merriment, and that he must have times when the reaction bore severely upon him.
"I have met with a heavy loss," I continued.
"Sorry for that; what is it?"
"I had a bag containing fifteen hundred dollars in gold in my trunk. It is gone now."
"Gone!" exclaimed he.
"The bag is empty."
"I am sorry for it; but I think you almost deserve to lose it for leaving it in your trunk."