“Now, if, on the other hand, it was expected that the count would appear in some such outlandish costume, the whole ten would recognize him at once—see?” “Yes.” “Oliver Wendell Holmes tells us that when John and Thomas encounter each other on the highway, there are six persons talking.” [44] [44] “How is that? You are getting beyond me now.” “There is John as he thinks he is, John as Thomas thinks he is, and John as God knows he is; and there is Thomas as he thinks he is, Thomas as John thinks he is, and Thomas as God knows he is. So, you see, there are six, quite plainly.” “Well, Nick?” “When that pirate chief came aboard this yacht, while he was standing here on the deck with you, his personality was like his face, masked.” “Exactly.” “When your wife’s sister came on the deck, she sought at once—as any other person would have done—to pierce that mask.” “Yes.” “Her impressions were not coerced in any direction by misgivings. She had not been frightened; she did not know that there was occasion for fear of any kind; her first idea of the affair was that it was some sort of a hoax.” “Yes.” “And in her first effort to pierce that mask which the pirate wore over his personality, if I may use the expression to convey an idea, she saw what you had already seen—a suggestion of the count.” “That is as sure as you are born!” “As she advanced toward you, that first impression grew upon her, and it was not until he had made some pronounced gesture, muscular or vocal, that she changed her opinion.” [45] [45]
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