"You will be able to
see out of both eyes."
"Confound you!" cried Fitzgerald, smiling in spite of himself;
"nothing will disturb you."
"You mean, nothing shall. Now, there's the bed and there's the
lounge. Since you are the principal, that is to say, the
constituent part of this affair, and also the principal actor in
this extravaganza, suppose you take the bed and leave me the
lounge? And the deuce take the duchess, who is probably a woman
with a high forehead and a pair of narrow eyes!" He threw down
his napkin and made for the lounge, without giving any
particular attention to the smile and frown which were
struggling in the Englishman's eyes. In less than a minute
Maurice was dozing.
Fitzgerald thought that the best thing he could do was to follow
the philosophical example of his friend. "These Americans," he
mused, as he arranged the pillow under his ear, "are `fifteen
puzzles'; you can move them, or you can't."
As for Maurice, he was already dreaming; he was too tired to
sleep. Presently he thought he was on a horse again, and was
galloping, galloping. He was heading his old company to the very
fringe of the alkali.
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