He had choked love, strangled it, starved it for sake of friendship; and, sitting there staring abstractedly into the filming coals, he wondered if he had done wrong; if those two were right, and love was worth fighting for.
The man who fought the hardest, he felt, would in this case win that for which he fought.

For he felt in his heart, that Teresita was only a pretty little animal, the primitive woman who would surrender to strength; and that he would win in the end who simply refused to yield before her coquetries.
With a quick, impatient gesture he threw his cigarette into the coals, kicked viciously a lazily smoking brand which sent up a little blaze and a spurt of sparks that died almost immediately to dull coals again.
"Love's like that," he muttered pessimistically, standing up and stretching his arms mechanically.

"And the winner loses in the end; maybe not always, but he will in this case.

Poor old Jack! After all, she ain't worth it.

If she was--" His chin went down for a minute or two, while he stared again at the fire.