“Well, Captain, what ails you? You seem depressed.”
“And I should say I had good cause,” replied the old officer, without raising his eyes.
“Come, come, no regrets! Look at me. Am I depressed? And yet I would wager that I have quite as much cause as you.”
“I doubt it, Baron Randmer; I have lost all I possessed; I have lost everything I loved.”
“Captain Lory, our misfortunes are precisely the same. It is not a fortnight since Lieutenant Alberick won my castle and estate at a single deal of the cards. I am ruined; but am I the less gay?”
The captain answered in a very melancholy tone: “Lieutenant, you have only lost your castle; but I have lost my dog.”
At this answer the light-minded baron seemed uncertain whether to laugh or sympathize; but he said: “Be comforted, Captain. Only think, I, who have lost my castle—”
The captain broke in upon his words:—
“What of that? Besides, you may win back another castle.”
“And you may find another dog.”