It will take at least three weeks." "Well, so long as he gets on his feet in the end.

You're a friend of the young man ?" "If you mean did I know him before he became ill, no." "Ah." O'Higgins revolved this information about, but no angle emitted light.

Basically a kindly man but made cynical and derisive by sordid contacts, O'Higgins had almost forgotten that there was such a thing as unselfishness.

The man or woman who did something for nothing always excited his suspicions; they were playing some kind of a game.

"You mean you were just sorry for him ?" "As I would be for any human being in pain." "Uh-huh." For the life of him, O'Higgins could not think of anything else to say.