It was a circumstance connected with this lady which led to the after intimacy between him and me.

She fell dangerously ill.
I had casually met her husband as an all-round man-about-town, and by this token, seeking sympathy on lines of least resistance, he came to me with his sorrow.
I have never seen grief more real and fervid.

He swore, on his knees and with tears in his eyes, that if she recovered, if God would give her back to him, he would never again touch a card; for gambling was his passion, and even among amateurs he would have been accounted the softest of soft things.

His prayer was answered, she did recover, and he proceeded to fulfill his vow.
But what was he to do?
He had been taught, or at least he had learned, to do nothing, not even to play poker! I suggested that as running a restaurant was a French prerogative and that as he knew less about cooking than about anything else--we had had a contest or two over the mysteries of a pair of chafing dishes--and as there was not a really good eating place in Louisville, he should set up a restaurant.

It was said rather in jest than in earnest; but I was prepared to lend him the money.