Simple tricks in
magic become easy to him. He gains, as you may suppose, a certain
influence over men, and more especially over women, if that be a part of
his religion. It was not with the Swami. It is with me!"
"You are a strange man, Orme," I said, drawing a long breath. "The most
dangerous man, the most singular, the most immoral I ever knew."
"No," he said, reaching for his cigar case, "I was only born without
what you call morals. They are not necessary in abstruse thought. Yet in
some ways I retain the old influences of my own country. For instance, I
lie as readily as I speak the truth, because it is more convenient; but
though I am a liar, I do not break my word of honor. I am a renegade,
but I am still an English officer! You have caught that distinction."
"Yes, I would trust you," I said, "if you gave me your word of honor."
He turned full upon me. "By Jove, old chap," he said, with a queer note
in his voice, "you touch me awfully close. You're like men of my own
family--you stir something in me that I used to know. The word of a
fighting man--that's the same for yours and mine; and that's why I've
always admired you. That's the sort of man that wins with the best sort
of women.
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