would take us there.

"'I should advise you not to play much, Chetwynd,' he said; 'sometimes
they play uncommonly high, and there are some fellows who have wonderful
luck. Of course, on ordinary occasions, when the play is low, you could
stake a few guineas there as well as elsewhere, but when really high
play is on we small fish always stand out. All I can say is that I have
never seen anything that savors of foul play in the smallest degree; but
you understand how it is, if one man happens to have a big run of luck,
there are always fellows who go about hinting that there is something
wrong in it. However, it is a jolly place to drop into, and, of course
there is no occasion to play always, and if one loses one is likely to
win on the next race or on the next fight.'"

Accordingly that evening Mark met Boldero, whom he had once or twice
before seen in Dick's company, and the three went together to the house
in Buckingham Street. Boldero nodded to the doorkeeper as he went in,
and they then proceeded upstairs and entered a handsome room, with
comfortable sofas and chairs, on which a dozen men were seated, for the
most part smoking. Several champagne bottles stood on the tables, and
all who liked helped themselves. Boldero was known to several of those
present, while two or three were also known to Dick. Boldero introduced
them both to his friends. One of these was the Hon. John Emerson, a man
of some five and thirty, with a languid air and a slight drawl.

"Glad to make your acquaintance, sir," he said to Mark. "Have you been
long in town?"

"Two or three months only," Mark replied.

"Is this your first visit here?"

"Yes, this is my first visit to any place of the sort, but I thought
that I should like to go the rounds before I went home again."

"Quite so. Going to punt a few guineas, I suppose?"

"Yes, I suppose that is the right thing to do."

"Well, everyone who comes is expected to do a little that way; there is
no occasion to play high."

"Oh, I should not like to do that," Mark said innocently; "indeed, I
know very little about cards."

"Oh, that is quite immaterial so long as you only play games of chance;
in fact, you don't want to know anything about them. You see others
staking their money, some on one side of the table, and some on the
other; you place your money whichever side you like, and take your
chance. There is no skill in it. Some people play on what they call a
system, but there is n