if it is clear that
this place is the haunt of blacklegs we can break it. There are half a
dozen Acts that apply; there is the 11th Act of Henry VIII, statute 33,
cap. 9, which prohibits the keeping of any common house for dice, cards,
or any unlawful game. That has never been repealed, except that gaming
houses were licensed in 1620. What is more to the point is that
five Acts of George II, the 9th, 12th, 13th, 18th, and 30th, impose
penalties upon the keepers of public houses for permitting gambling, and
lay heavy penalties upon hazard, roulette, and other gambling games, on
the keepers of gambling houses and those who play there. Having received
complaints of several young men being rooked in the place, we can, if
we prove that some of its frequenters are blacklegs, shut the place up
altogether. We should do it quietly, and without fuss, if possible;
but if we shut it up several others of the same sort will be certain to
close their doors. But mind, there will probably be a desperate row, and
you had better take pistols with you. I will have four men close at
hand from ten o'clock till the time the place closes, and if they hear a
scrimmage, or you fire a pistol out of the window, they will rush in and
seize all engaged in the row, and march them to the lock up. Of course
you will have to be included."

Mark then went to Chetwynd.

"Well, what did you think of it last night?"

"Well, I own that it went against my grain to see that young fellow
being victimized by a sharper."

"My dear Mark, you must not use such language as that. I fancy from
what I have heard that the Honorable John is not altogether an estimable
character, but to call him a sharper is going too far altogether."

"I don't think that it is, for from what I saw last night I am pretty
well convinced that he did not play fair. I mean to go again tonight."

"But why on earth should you mix yourself up in such an affair, Mark? It
is no business of yours; you are not an habitue of the place. Above
all, it is extremely unlikely that you are right. There were some
shady people there, no doubt, but there were also a good many gentlemen
present, and as you know nothing of cards, as far as I know, it is the
most unlikely thing in the world that you should find out that Emerson
cheated when no one else noticed it."

"It is my business; it is the duty of every honest man to see that a
poor lad like that should not be eaten up by a shark like Emerson. I
do