instruction as you are giving me; he would learn, at least, the absolute
folly of sitting down to play cards with strangers. He would see that
he could be robbed in fifty different ways, and would be at the absolute
mercy of any sharper. I never had any inclination for gambling, but if
I had been inclined that way you would have cured me of the passion for
life."

The week's instruction was lengthened to a fortnight, and at the end of
that time Mark went to Dick Chetwynd.

"Do you know, Dick," he said, "a gambling place in Buckingham Street?"

"I know that there is a hell there, Mark, but I have never been in it.
Why do you ask?"

"I have rather a fancy to go there," he replied. "I hear that, although
a good many men of fashion haunt the place, the crowd is rather a mixed
one."

"It has a bad name, Mark; I have heard some queer reports about it."

"Yes, so have I. I should think that it is a very likely place for a man
like Bastow to go to if he has any liking for play. Of course he would
get up as a gentleman. At any rate, I have been making what inquiries
I can in some of the thieves' quarters, and have come to the conclusion
that he is not likely to have taken up his abode there, and I don't
think I can do better than make a round of some of these doubtful
houses. I should like to begin with this, and then work downwards."

"Well, I dare say I could manage it, Mark; I know half a dozen men who
play there; they say there is more fun and excitement to be got than
at White's or Crockford's, or any of those places. Some men, of course,
play high, but a good many who go there only risk a few guineas; some go
because it is the proper thing at present for a man about town either to
play or to bet on horses or cock fights, or to patronize the ring; and,
after all, it is easier to stroll for an hour or two of an evening into
comfortable rooms, where you meet a lively set and there is champagne
always going, than it is to attend races or prize fights."

Very few days passed that Mark did not go in for half an hour's chat
with his friend, and two days after this conversation Dick said:

"By the way, Mark, I have arranged for us to go to that hell tonight;
young Boldero, who is a member of my club, told me some time ago that he
played there sometimes. I met him yesterday evening, and said that I had
a fancy to go and have a look at it, and that a friend of mine from the
country also wanted to go; he said at once that he