He yawned again. He arranged the card table in front of the fire. He got the cards and piled them in neat packs on the green cloth. He placed a box of cigarettes convenient to his right hand. He smoked.
"I'm very sleepy, but I've been so stupid over this solitaire since I've been at the Cedars that I must solve it in the interest of my self-respect before I go to bed."
Bobby went to him impulsively.
"I'm ashamed, Carlos. I don't know what to say. How can I say anything?
How can I begin to thank you?"
"If you ever tell me I saved your life," Paredes yawned, "I shall have to disappear because then you'd have a claim on me."
Katherine touched his hand. There were tears in her eyes. It wasn't necessary for her to speak. Paredes indicated two chairs.
"If you aren't too tired, sit here and help me for a while. Perhaps between us we'll get somewhere. I wonder why I have been so stupid with the thing."
After a time, as he manipulated the cards, he laughed lightly.
"The same thing—the thing I've been scolding you all for. With a perfectly simple play staring me in the face I nearly made the mistake of choosing a difficult one. That would have got me in trouble while the simple one gives me the game. Why are people like that?"
As he moved the cards with a deft assurance to their desired combination he smiled drolly at Graham, Rawlins, and Robinson.