"My dear fellow," said Garman with a deep chuckle, "if I didn't have lives to play with--other people's lives--I'd die of boredom. You're young," he continued with a sudden touch of bitterness. "You're still able to draw upon the old illusions to maintain your interest in life. Ambition, work, achievement, success--Love! You're inexperienced enough to pursue the old will-o'-the-wisps that Nature has planted in man's instincts to keep him living till her purpose is served. Pah! Payne, I've tried them all, won them all, and that--" he blew out a great cloud of smoke--"that is more real and satisfying than all of them put together." "Have your liver examined," advised Payne; "that's probably what's the matter with you." Garman's Gargantuan burst of laughter rocked him in the saddle. "Good boy! We'll have a lot of fun before we're through with one another. But what a materialist you are for a young fellow, Payne! What will you be at fifty if now you reduce psychological manifestations to a common physical cause? Why, man, you ought to be walking with your head in the clouds, dreaming of the one woman, the Perfect Mate, and Love, which are to make your life complete. All young fools of your age do it; why not you?" "And so you play with other people's lives, do you?" said Payne, paying no attention to the other's raillery. "And is that what you're thinking of doing with mine?" Garman tilted back his head and smiled through a smoke cloud. "Yes," he said softly; "unless you run away." "Huh!" "No, you aren't the running kind. That's what makes you interesting. That's what will make you good fun. What could be more interesting than seeing a young man like yourself want something so badly that he'd give his life for it and then suddenly place the desired object far, far beyond his reach. To watch his expression when he discovers that he's lost. To see the change from hope to despair take place in his eyes, to watch the illusions go, and the bitter truth about life take possession of him. What will he do, say and look when he discovers that the oyster of life is a hollow, empty, fraudulent shell?" "You're raving, Garman!" "Do you accept the challenge?" "To the limit." "Good boy! I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. The girl would have been worth while, but adding you, Payne, you glimpsing a dream of a fool's paradise, will be glorious!" "You talk like a damn fool," said Payne bluntly. Garman nodded, and with the nod his strange mood passed and he was the business man again. "All right. That's all of that for the present. Now, what are you up against? What are your biggest problems?" "Thanks, but I am not placing myself entirely in your hands, Garman." "That's right; play safe. But I'm talking business now. You're tackling a hard job here. What can I do to help?"