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Show 12,1 HICIIAHD JJ UitDIS. no books, and no society. After breakfast '' c rctumcd to our apartment, and t ltrcw ourselves upon tltc beds. To t::tlk of home, :md t he two maidens, whom we h:1d loft mulcr such differing circumsta nces, was our only nltcrnatiYC; and thus crnJdoycll our two stranger compan ions came in . 'l'hcir cxtn~c for the intrusion was the weather, nnd as their rights to the clmmLcr were equal to ours, we lwd nothing to sny ngainst it. Still I wns disquictctl and nhnost angry. I spoke very d istantly and coldly in reply to their speeches, and they quit:ldy saw tlwt I was disposed to keep them at nrm's length . Dut my desire, with such pcr sOllS, was not of so easy nttninmcnt. The reserve of a gentleman is not apt to be reS}Jected, even if sceu, J,y those wlto have never yet learned tltc fi rst lessons of gentility; and do what I would, l still found that tltcy wero utll'ring proposilious in my enrs which I wns necessarily oLligetl to answC'r, or acknowledge. In tLis, they were tacitly ass isted Ly my friend. Carri11gton, whose disposition was far more accessible tlt::m mine, chatted with them freely, and, wlwt was worse, told them very nearly all of his purposes and projects. They, too, were seeking land; they were speculators from New York-agents for great lnnd-compani es - such as spring up daily in that city, and flood the country witb a nominnl capital, that clwngcs like magic gold into worthless paper every five years or less. They talked of thousands, mul hundreds of thousands, with tl1e glibness of men who ktd handled nothing else from infancy; and never was imagination more thoroughly taken }lrisoner thnn was that of Carrington. H e fairly gasped wltilc listening to them. Their marvellous resources confou nded ]tim. ·with three thousand doJiars, and thirty negroes, he 1tatl considered himself no small capitnlist; but uow l1c began to feel really humble, and I laughed aloud as l beheld the effects of his consternation upon him. Conversation 1nggcd Ht length; even those wondrous details of tl1c agents of the great New York company tired the lt earcrs, and, it would seem, tlte speakers too; for they came to a pause. The mind ~an 110t bear too much glitter any more than the eye. They now talked together, and one of them, at lengtl1, produced cards from his trunk. TilE TRAVELLF.R.c:; I•'ALL A~WXG TfTTr.VF.S. 125 " "\Yill yon play, gentlemen 1" tltcy nskecl civi lly. " [ am ohligf'd tn yon/' wns my reply, in freezing toneR, ''hut L would rather not." [ was llllswcrcd, grc11t ly to my mortification, by Carrington" And wlty not, Dick 1 Yon play well, nnd I know you like it.'' rl.'his was forcing upon me nn avowal of my dislike to our would-be acquaintance which I would have preferred to avoid. But, as it was, 1 resolved upon my course. "Yon know I ncYer like to pby among strangers, "\Villi:un !" "Pslt:tw! my dear fellow, what of that 1 Come, take a l1aml - we're here in a plnce we know not iling about, and where nobody knows HS. I t's monstrous dull, and if we don't piny, we may as well d rown." "Excuse me, "\Villirun." "Can't, Dick-can't think of it(' was ltis reply. u You must take a hand, or we can't play. "\Vhist is my only gamC', you know, and there's but three of us without you." "Take dummy," was my answer. ""\\'lwt! without knowing how to value him 7 Oli, no! Desides, I can't play tltat game well." You m:ly fight, or CRt, or speak, or travel with a man, without m:1king yourself' his companion-but you can't play with !tim without incurring his intimacy. Now, I was somewhat prejudiced against these strangers, and hncl so far studiously avoided their familiarity. rro play with them was to make my former lalJor in va in , ns well as to invi to tho consequences which I had been so desirous to avert. But to utter these reasons nloud was to chall eHgo them to tl1e bull-ring, and there was no wisdom in tlmt. li ly thoughtless friend urged the matter witlt a zeal no less imprudent in his Jlln.co than it was irksome in mine. He would hea l' no excuses, and appealed to my courtesy against my pl'inciplc, alleging the utter impossibility of their being able to find t>he desired amusement without my lt olp. Not to seem churlish, I at length gave way. Bitterly do I reproach myself that I did so. But how was I then-in my boyhood, as it were-to anticipate such consequences from so seemingly small a source. But, in morals, no depnrturc from |