as I am
single and my own master, but there were a good many men there who would
have been ready to have paid up handsomely rather than that their names
should appear in connection with a row at a gambling house."

At seven o'clock in the evening Philip Cotter called at Mark's lodgings,
accompanied by his father, who, as he came in with him, advanced at once
to Mark and shook him warmly by the hand.

"My son has told me everything, Mr. Thorndyke," he said, "and I cannot
thank you sufficiently for the noble part you took in rescuing him from
the terrible effects of his folly. I have been down here twice this
afternoon, for I felt that I could not rest until I had shaken you by
the hand. It is not the question of money so much, though that would
have been a serious loss to me, but it is the saving of my son's life,
and the saving of the honor of our name."

"I am glad indeed to have been of service, Mr. Cotter, and I trust that
you have consented to forgive the folly that he has committed, and which
I feel sure will never be repeated."

"Yes. It was a heavy blow to me, Mr. Thorndyke, when Philip told me; but
as he has sworn most solemnly never to touch a card again, and as I feel
sure that the lesson cannot but be a useful one to him all his life, I
have agreed to say no more about it, and let the matter drop altogether.
He has been fortunate to have escaped so easily. He has told me of the
noble offer you made to pay his losses if you should not be able to
prove that he was being cheated."

"I was not committing myself heavily," Mark said with a smile. "I had
seen enough to be absolutely certain, and was sure that I should be able
to bring it home to them."

"But it was at a considerable risk to yourself, Mr. Thorndyke. As it
was, you had a narrow escape of being shot."

"Not a very narrow escape," Mark replied. "With so many men standing
round him and their attention called to him, it was certain that he
would be seized before he could take aim at me. I had pistols in my
pocket, and was prepared to fire in an instant, but I saw at once that
there was no occasion for that."

"But I cannot imagine how you should have detected the cheating," the
banker said. "You are younger than my son, and he said that you told
him that you had only recently come up to London. It is astonishing that
while experienced players should never have noticed that anything was
wrong you should have discovered it."

"The explanation is