The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-10-13
The Conversation Game.


| gentle courtesy which alone ought to
have made me suspicious, fer his more
| usual manner is triumphant and detesta-
| bic I might have noticed the quckness
| with which he changed the subject OF
| our conversation, but 1 was without sus-
! picion, being at the time toe lazy for it
He asked me whether I thought coal
would ever go TO IS shillings a ton.
had hardly answered him before he
| dropped the subject, and said he won
dered whether we should ever have a
practical flying machine. 1 pointed out
what were generally said to be the chief
difficulties to be got over. He looked
slightly disappointed, but did not pursue
! the point He began to talk about the
rapid growth of London, and said that
he believed that one day there would be
an unbroken block of houses and streets
right up to Harrow.
Certainly" 1 said. IT'S only ques-
ton of time
Thanks" he replied. That's all /
want; I've won. though I didn't deserve
TO- l was playing very carelsssly.'
| what on earth do you mean?" 1 asked.
| It's the Conversation Game, and the
best one-nan game l know. You write
down sentence IN your note b5ok, and
| then you try to make somebody say it
In your case the sentence had written
down was: Its only a question of
time And you've just said it; I've
Won"
He produced his note book and show
ed me the sentence written at the top
| of page. He put a " against it and
| the date to record his victory. Its
much better play" he added, mot 70
use more than one subject. / might JEST
! as well have stuck to che coal You'd
have said it sooner or later, but I got
| im3atient''
| ITS the maddest game 1 ever came
| across. VIII you let me give you a sen
tence, and then see II you can make any
body say it?"
'I'H see the sentence first. The best
| player can't expect to win every time"
| He handed me his note book.
| wrote dewn, You are the most in
telligent, man 1 ever met" 1 did this
| just as much because I thought my
| choice would annoy him personally as
because it was likely to make the game
difficult
| He leaned back in his chair and closed
his eyes in thought. Yes he sad, at
last, 81 think 1 can make Cecil Purvis
say something very near TO it. IF it's
| the sense without the exact words we
call it draw game. Purvis shall lunch
here tomorrow with me, and you shall
meet him.
Purvis was young author not quite
| as clever as he thought, nor quite as ap-
preciated as he wished to be- but by no
means q bad sort. We met at luncheon
the next day, and the Superior Man
seemed to have forgotten al about his
Conversational Game. He let Purvis and
myself do most of the talking, correct
ing US occasionally when We went wrong.
after his usual manner, but never at
tempting to lead the conversation in any
particular direction. At the end OF
luncheon Purvis began to talk abeut his
| own work, and then the Superior Man s
eyes lit up.
He said that he seldom enjoyed a
modern novel: there was so much deca-
dent rot about. But he had read Pur-
vfs' anna Withend" three times. II
he knew anything about it that was a
book that was going to live. 1t was the
finest thing that had been done since
Vanity Fair"
1 think that Purvis would have liked
to have taken this praise seriously. but
out Of common decency he had TO pre-
tend that he thought it was said jok-
ingly, and to make a reply on similar
lines.
well" he said, ''you're the most in
telligent man 7 know. wish there we
more like you"
Later, when Purvis had gone off to see
his publisher, the Superior Man said, as
he pulled out his notebook and put a
ID" against the sentence:
That's hard lines-only draw. How
ever, I played it fairly well, and I've
had two wins today, so I mustn't COM
plain. I made old Elton say, That's a
very common mistake The other SEN
tence was much easier. got 1t out Of
Evesley."
What was it?' I asked.
1T was. The harder you work, the
harder it goes"
But surely it is much more difficult
to lead a man TO say that than the
other
"Ah, you're new to the game. The
sentences that look the harder at first
sight are oftenest the easiest really"
well, try TO make someone say this:
I shot twelve lions in an afternoon
He wrote it down in his notebook.
That's a very simple one" he said.
"I can be absolutely sure Of winning
that"
'Like to back yourself to win IT in my
hearing?"
For a sovereign? Certainly; with
pleasure. I'll book that, too"
He told me to come to the club the
following afternoon and he would have
found the man to say 1t.
1 went away regretting that I had not
made that sovereign a flyer
When We met the next day I asked
him IL ne had found his man. He said
that he had, and he seemed wounded
when asked If he had fixed 1t up with
the man beforehand.
mo, I have net. and I shall be able
to prove that I have not. BY the way,
I've not got my notebook with me, and
I don't want there TO be any mistak.
about II. The bet is that Will make
man say. I killed twelve lions in ono
afternoon
ITS as well that you mentioned Il
because yousvs got It wrong in I'VE
places. The sentence Is. I shot twelve
lions in an afternoon
Thanks very much h said, IN
trouble you for that sovereign, and I
think you'H sllsw that I didH-t tx 1t up
with you hefsrchsns. Yeu heard your
self say 1t, didn't yeu? I wonder thar
il didn't occur 10 ysu that you might
be the man / should select for the pur-
pose"
I psId him hi. money. ana told him
that I should Ike 70 see him drowning
In a mill-perd in order that ! might
have the pleasure Of throwing bricks at
his face as he came UP 10 the surface
And Re smiled and vent OF to play his
abominabIe game elsewhere.