"Your wants are simple."
From a shelf he brought down a box, took off the cover, and left me to
make my selection. Soon I found what I desired and laid it aside,
waiting for Monsieur Friard to return. Again I observed the other
customer. There is always a mystery to be solved and a story to be
told, when a man makes the purchase of a pistol in a pawnshop. A man
who buys a pistol for the sake of protection does so in the light of
day, and in the proper place, a gun-shop. He does not haunt the
pawnbroker in the dusk of evening. Well, it was none of my business;
doubtless he knew what he was doing. I coughed suggestively, and
Friard came slipping in my direction again.
"This is what I want. How much?" I inquired.
"Fifty cents; it has never been worn."
I drew out my wallet. I had arrived in town too late to go to the
bank, and I was carrying an uncomfortably large sum in gold-bills. As
I opened the wallet to extract a small bill, I saw the stranger eying
me quietly. Well, well, the dullest being brightens at the sight of
money and its representatives. I drew out a small bill and handed it
to the proprietor. He took it, together with the mask, and sidled over
to the cash-register. The bell gave forth a muffled sound, not unlike
that of a fire-bell in a snow-storm. As he was in the act of wrapping
up my purchase, I observed the silent customer's approach. When he
reached my side he stooped and picked up something from the floor.
With a bow he presented it to me.
"I saw it drop from your pocket," he said; and then when he saw what it
was, his jaw fell, and he sent me a hot, penetrating glance.
"The ten of hearts!" he exclaimed in amazement.
I laughed easily.
"The ten of hearts!" he repeated.
"Yes; four hearts on one side and four on the other, and two in the
middle, which make ten in all,"--raillery in my tones. What the deuce
was the matter with everybody to-night? "Marvelous card, isn't it?"
"Very strange!" he murmured, pulling at his lips.
"And in what way is it strange?" I asked, rather curious to learn the
cause of his agitation.
"There are several reasons,"--briefly.
"Ah!"
"I have seen a man's hand pinned to that card; therefore it is
gruesome."