Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas Read Online Free

still have seventy
gulden left. I'll bet those this afternoon at the races-at the ten-kreuzer
window, of course."
    He crossed over to the window with quick steps and looked into the
courtyard of the barracks. "The coast is clear," he said, his mouth twisted
into a bitter and sardonic smile. Pulling up his collar, he shook hands
with Willi and left.
    Willi sighed softly, pondered for a moment, and then hurried to get
ready to leave. He wasn't very happy with the condition of his uniform.
If he should win today, he would buy himself a new cape at the very
least. He abandoned the idea of a Turkish bath because of the lateness of
the hour and decided to take a carriage to the train. Two gulden more or
less didn't really matter today, considering.
    II
    Getting off the train in Baden around noon, Willi found himself in excellent spirits. At the train station in Vienna he had had a very cordial con versation with Lieutenant Colonel Wositzky-an extremely disagreeable
person when on duty-and two girls in his compartment had flirted with
him so vivaciously that he was almost relieved when they didn't get out
with him at his station, because he knew he would have had difficulty in
carrying out his plan for the day if they had. Despite his good mood,
however, he still felt inclined to reproach his former comrade Bogner,
not so much because he had taken money from the cash drawer-since
that, given his unlucky circumstances, was to a certain degree excusable-but more because of the stupid gambling scandal by which he had
so abruptly cut off his promising career in the service three years ago. An
officer, after all, ought to know just how far he could go in that sort of
thing. For example, three weeks ago, when he had been dogged by bad
luck, he had simply gotten up from the card table, even though Consul
Schnabel had offered him access to his wallet in the most charming way.
In fact, he had always known how to resist temptation, and he had always
succeeded in making ends meet on his small salary and the meager allowances he had received, first from his father, and then, after his father's death as a lieutenant colonel at Emesvar, from his Uncle Robert.
And when these small additions to his salary had stopped, he had known
how to make do with less: he had stopped going to the cafes as frequently, cut down on new purchases, saved on cigarettes, and determined
that women should no longer cost him anything at all. Indeed, just three
months ago a little adventure that had begun most auspiciously had failed
because Willi had literally not been able to pay for a dinner for two on a
certain evening.

    It was truly sad, he decided as he thought about it. Never before had
he been so aware of the narrowness of his circumstances as he was
today-on this beautiful spring day-as he wandered through the fragrant gardens of the country estate in which the Kessner family lived and
which they probably owned, wearing a cape that was showing signs of
wear, shabby trousers that had begun to shine at the knees, and a cap that
sat much lower than the latest officer style demanded. Today he also realized for the first time that his hope for an invitation to dinner-or rather,
the fact that such an invitation was something he needed to hope forwas shameful.

    Nevertheless he was by no means displeased when his hope was
fulfilled, not only because the meal was tasty and the wine excellent, but
also because Fraulein Emily, who sat at his right, proved to be an exceedingly agreeable table companion with her friendly glances and her familiar touches-which, to be sure, could have been merely accidental. He
was not the only guest. There was also a young lawyer whom the head of
the household had brought from Vienna and who knew how to lead the
conversation into light, gay, and at times ironic channels. The host was
polite but somewhat cool toward Willi: in general he didn't seem altogether pleased by the Sunday visits of the