Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas by Arthur Schnitzler Read Free Book Online

abruptly.
    Willi was of two minds. If they stopped now, nothing more could
happen to him, and that was good. At the same time he felt an uncontrollable, truly fiendish urge to continue playing, to conjure a few more, no,
all of the remaining crisp thousand-gulden bills out of the consul's wallet
into his own. That would be a hoard with which he could make his fortune! It didn't always have to be baccarat-there were also the horse
races at Freudenau and the Trabrennplatz, and there were also fine casinos such as the one at Monte Carlo on the seacoast-with beautiful
women from Paris.... While his thoughts drifted in this direction, the
regiment doctor was trying to rouse the consul to one last round. Elrief
poured the cognac as though he were the host. He himself was drinking
his eighth glass. Fraulein Mitzi Rihoscheck swayed her body and
hummed a soundless melody. Tugut gathered the scattered cards and
shuffled them. The consul remained silent. Suddenly he called for the
waiter and ordered two new, fresh decks of cards. Everyone's eyes lit up.
The consul glanced at his watch and said, "Till half past two on the dot,
and that's final!"
    It was five minutes after two.

    VII
    The consul put down a bank larger than any this company had ever
seen-three thousand gulden. Apart from the players and a single waiter,
there was not a soul left in the cafe. The song of the morning birds was
already drifting in through the open door. The consul lost, but for the
time being he maintained himself as banker. Elrief had completely recovered his losses and withdrew from the game upon a warning glance from
Fraulein Rihoscheck. The others, all somewhat ahead, played on modestly and carefully. Half the bank was still intact.
    "The whole bank!" Willi suddenly proposed, and was frightened at
his own words-at the very tone of his voice. Have I lost my mind? he
wondered. The consul uncovered a nine, and Willi was fifteen hundred
gulden the poorer. Remembering Flegmann's system, Willi now put
down a ridiculously small sum, fifty gulden-and won. How stupid! he
thought. I could have won the whole amount back at once! Why was I so
cowardly'?
    "The bank, again!"
    He lost.
    "The bank, once more!"
    The consul appeared to hesitate.
    "What has come over you, Kasda!" cried the regiment doctor.
    Willi laughed and felt an intoxication rise into his head. Was it the
cognac that was dulling his reason? Evidently. Of course he had made a
mistake, not in his wildest dreams had he intended to risk a thousand or
two thousand on a single bet.
    "Excuse me, Consul, I really meant-"
    The consul did not let him finish. In an amiable tone he said, "If you
didn't know how much money was in the bank, of course I will take your
retraction into consideration."
    "What do you mean, retraction into consideration, Consul?" Willi
found himself saying. "A bet is a bet."
    Was it really he who was speaking? His words? His voice? If he
were to lose, it would be all over with the new military cape, the new sword belt, the dinners in attractive female company. He would have left
only the thousand earmarked for that swindler Bogner-and he himself
would be the same poor devil that he had been two hours ago.

    Wordlessly, the consul uncovered his card. Nine. No one uttered the
number out loud, yet it resounded loudly throughout the room like the
echo of a ghost. Willi felt a strange moisture on his brow. Damn, that was
quick! Well, at any rate, he still had a thousand gulden lying in front of
him, maybe a few more. He didn't want to count them-that would bring
bad luck. In any case, he was still considerably richer than he had been
when he had stepped off the train today at noon. Today at noon? And,
after all, nothing was forcing him to risk the whole thousand at once. He
could begin again with a hundred or two hundred, using Flegmann's system. Only there was so little time left-hardly twenty minutes. There
was silence all around.
    "Lieutenant?" the