"Yes," said Guskof, incessantly putting his hand to his moustaches, but
instantly dropping it again without touching them. "Pavel Dmitrievitch's
luck has been against him in this expedition, such a veine de malheur"
he added in a careful but pure French pronunciation, again giving me to
think that I had seen him, and seen him often, somewhere. "I know Pavel
Dmitrievitch very well. He has great confidence in me," he proceeded to
say; "he and I are old friends; that is, he is fond of me," he
explained, evidently fearing that it might be taken as presumption for
him to claim old friendship with the adjutant. "Pavel Dmitrievitch plays
admirably; but now, strange as it may seem, it's all up with him, he is
just about perfectly ruined; la chance a tourne," he added, addressing
himself particularly to me.
At first we had listened to Guskof with condescending attention; but as
soon as he made use of that second French phrase, we all involuntarily
turned from him.
"I have played with him a thousand times, and we agreed then that it was
strange," said Lieutenant O., with peculiar emphasis on the word STRANGE
[Footnote: Stranno]. "I never once won a ruble from him. Why was it,
when I used to win of others?"
"Pavel Dmitrievitch plays admirably: I have known him for a long time,"
said I.
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