Do you think because you have
been a fool in one way that you have a right to be a fool in another?'

Paul sipped and shuddered, but in a second or two--no more--a faint
sense of returning warmth stole through him. He sipped again, and the
faint glow grew stronger. He took a pull which half emptied the tumbler,
and the spirit made him cough and brought the tears to his eyes; but he
felt his numbed limbs again. Pauer had relit the stump of his cigar and
taken his old place on the table.

'It's not any part of my usual life-business,'he said, 'to do what I am
doing now, but I like odd things, and it is an odd thing that I should
meet you here. Besides that, I have been a fool in my time, and a
fellow-feeling makes us kind. I shall put you up to-night, because
you're a decent young chap, and a greenhorn. You shall have your clothes
dried and brushed, and you shall be made decent to look at; and you
shall get a hat, and in the morning you shall go home.'

'You're very kind,' said Paul, 'but I'm not going to take your help on
false pretences. I shan't go home.'

'I will chance that,' said Herr Pauer. 'Finish your drink and put that
coat on. You're shivering again.'

Paul obeyed sleepily. Herr Pauer drew a penknife from his pocket and
impaled the last inch of his cigar with it. He sat puffing there, and
sat looking at his guest, or prisoner, and Paul looked at him drowsily
in turn until Herr Pauer's head seemed to swell and fill the canvas
box. The noise of the band came in gushes, as if his ears were now under
water and now clear of it The head went on swelling, and the sound of
the music grew fainter. He was deliciously warm, and he had a feeling of
being lifted and gently balanced to and fro as if he were in a hammock.
After this he forgot everything until he felt Pauer's hand on his
shoulder, and started broad awake, with a clear sense that the spaces
close at hand which had been so crammed with life a little while ago
were all dark and deserted.

'Time to go,' said Pauer. 'No, never mind the coat.'

Paul was struggling out of it. 'I have another.' He held his arms abroad
to show that he was already provided, and the lad rose to his feet 'Take
this,' said Pauer, fixing a rough unlined cap upon his head with both
hands. 'It will look less odd, and it's better than nothing.' He
turned out the lamp to its last spark, and then with a puff of breath
extinguished it altogether. 'Tu m'attends, George?' he called to
some