Зима тревоги нашей

           Whenthechildrenhadgone,Marysaid,"Aren’tyougladthey’reinthecontest?"

           "Sure,iftheydoitright."

           "Ican’twaittotellyou—Margiereadmeincardstoday,threetimes,becauseshesaidsheneversawanythinglikeit.Threetimes!Isawthecardscomeupmyself."

           "Oh!Lord!"

           "Youwon’tbesosuspiciouswhenyouhear.Youalwayspokefunabouttalldarkstrangers.Youcan’tguesswhatitwasabout.Well—youwanttoguess?"

           Hesaid,"Mary,Iwanttowarnyou."

           "Warnme?Why,youdon’tevenknow.Myfortuneisyou."

           Hespokeaharsh,bitterwordunderhisbreath.

           "Whatdidyousay?"

           "Isaid,‘Slimpickings.’"

           "That’swhatyouthink,butthat’snotwhatthecardsthink.Threetimes,shethrewthem."

           "Cardsthink?"

           "Theyknow,"saidMary."Hereshereadmycardsanditwasallaboutyou.You’regoingtobeoneofthemostimportantmeninthistown—that’swhatIsaid,mostimportant.Andit’snotgoingtobelongeither.It’sverysoon.Everycardsheturnedshowedmoneyandmoremoney.You’regoingtobearichman."

           "Darling,"hesaid,"pleaseletmewarnyou,please!"

           "You’regoingtomakeaninvestment."

           "Withwhat?"

           "Well,IwasthinkingaboutBrother’smoney."

           "No,"hecried."Iwouldn’ttouchit.That’syours.Andit’sgoingtostayyours.Didyouthinkthatupordid—"

           "Shenevermentionedit.Andthecardsdidn’t.YouaregoingtoinvestinJuly,andfromthenon,it’sonethingafteranother—onerightafteranother.