wildness, the other was filmed by a cataract), and suddenly changed direction and came limping, reluctantly, across the street to where Brower stood
“It did not want to come, that much was obvious It whined and growled and tucked its
mangy rope of a tail between its legs, but it was drawn to him nonetheless It came right up to Brower’s feet, and then lay upon its belly, whining and crouching and shuddering Its emaciated sides went in and out like a bellows, and its good eye rolled horribly in its socket
“Brower uttered a hideous, despairing laugh that I still hear in my dreams, and squatted by it ‘There,’ he said ‘You see” It knows me as one of its kind and knows what I bring it1’ He reached for the dog and the cur uttered a snarling, lugubrious howl It bared its teeth
” ‘Don’t1’ I cried sharply ‘He’ll bite1’
“Brower took no notice In the glow of the streetlight his face was livid, hideous, the eyes black holes burnt in parchment ‘Nonsense,’ he crooned ‘Nonsense I only want to shake hands
with him as your friend shook with me!” And suddenly he seized the dog’s paw and shook it The dog made a horrible howling noise, but made no move to bite him
“Suddenly Brower stood up His eyes seemed to have cleared somewhat, and except for
his excessive pallor, he might have again been the man who had offered courteously to pick up a hand with us earlier the night before.
” ‘I’m leaving now,’ he said quietly ‘Please apologize to your friends and tell them I’m sorry to have acted like such a fool Perhaps I’ll have a chance to redeem myself another time ‘
” ‘It’s we who owe you the apology,’ I said ‘And have you forgotten the money’ It’s better than a thousand dollars ‘
” ‘O yes1 The money1’ And his mouth curved in one of the bitterest smiles I have ever
seen
” ‘Never mind coming into the lobby,’ I said ‘If you will promise to wait right here, I’ll bring it Will you do that?’
” ‘Yes,’ he said ‘If you wish, I’ll do that ‘ And he looked reflectively down at the dog whining at his feet ‘Perhaps he would like to come to my lodgings with me and have a square meal for once in his miserable life ‘ And the bitter smile reappeared
“I left him then, before he could reconsider, and went downstairs Someone — probably
Jack Wilden, he always had an orderly mind — had changed all the markers for greenbacks and had stacked the money neatly in the center of the green felt None of them spoke to me as I
gathered it up Baker and Jack Wilden were smoking wordlessly, Jason Davidson was hanging
his head and looking at his feet His face was a picture of misery and shame I touched him on the shoulder as I went back to the stairs and he looked at me gratefully
“When I reached the street again, it was utterly deserted Brower had gone I stood there with a wad of greenbacks in each hand, looking vainly either way, but nothing moved I called once, tentatively, in case he should be standing in the shadows someplace near, but there was no response Then I happened to look down The stray dog was still there, but his days of foraging in trash cans were over He was quite dead The fleas and ticks were leaving his body in marching columns I stepped back, revolted and yet also filled with a species of odd, dreamy terror I had a
premonition that I was not yet through with Henry Brower, and so I wasn’t, but I never saw him again ”
The fire in the grate had died to guttering flames and cold had begun to creep out of the
shadows, but no one moved or spoke while George lit his pipe again He sighed and recrossed his legs, making the old joints crackle, and resumed
“Needless to say, the others who had taken part in the game were unanimous in opinion
we must find Brower and give him his money. I suppose some would think we were insane to