"Yes, tell me that."
"And do _me_ a good turn into the bargain."
"Is it possible? Can I be so fortunate?"
"Yes; and _as you say,_ it _is_ a slice of luck to be able to kill two
birds with one stone. Why, consider--the way to recover a man is not to
run after him, but to make him run to you. It is like catching moths; you
don't run out into the garden after them; you light the candle and open
the window, and _they_ do the rest--as he will."
"Yes, yes; but what am I to do for _you?"_ asked Ina, getting a little
uneasy and suspicious.
"What! didn't I tell you?" said Ashmead, with cool effrontery. "Why, only
to sing for me in this little opera, that is all." And he put his hands
in his pockets, and awaited thunder-claps.
"Oh, that is all, is it?" said Ina, panting a little, and turning two
great, reproachful eyes on him.
"That is all," said he, stoutly. "Why, what attracted him at first?
Wasn't it your singing, the admiration of the public, the bouquets and
bravas? What caught the moth once will catch it again 'moping' won't. And
surely you will not refuse to draw him, merely because you can pull me
out of a fix into the bargain.
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