as a splendid woman, beautifully developed.

"Now then, Lubi, old man, I toss you for a sovereign," cried a lord,
who looked like a sandwich-man in his ample driving-coat.

"You no more toss with me, I have done with you; you too sharp for
me."

"What! are you going to cut me? Are you going to warn me off your
restaurant?"

Roars of laughter followed, and the lions of song gazed in admiration
on the lord.

"I may be hard up," cried the lord; "but I'm damned if I ever look
hard up; do I, Lubi?"

"Since you turn up head when you like, why should you look hard up?"

"You want us to believe you are a 'mug,' Lubi, that's about it, but
it won't do. 'Mugs' are rare nowadays. I don't know where to go and
look for them.... I say, Lubi," and he whispered something in the
restaurateur's ear, "if you know of any knocking about, bring them
down to my place; you shall stand in."

"Damn me! You take me for a pump, do you? You get out!"

The genial lord roared the more, and assured Lubi he meant "mugs,"
and offered to toss him for a sovereign.

"How jolly this is!" said Mike. "I'm dying for a gamble; I feel as if
I could play as I never played before. I have all the cards in my
mind's eye. By George! I wish I could get hold of a 'mug,' I'd fleece
him to the tune of five hundred before he knew where he was. But look
at that woman! She's not bad."

"A great coarse creature like that! I never could understand you....
Have you heard of Lily Young lately?"

Mike's face fell.

"No," he said, "I have not. She is the only woman I ever loved. I
would sooner see her than the green cloth. I really believe I love
that girl. Somehow I cannot forget her."

"Well, come and see her to-day. Take your eyes off that disgusting
harlot."

"No, not to-day," he replied, without removing his eyes. Five minutes
after he said, "Very well, I will go. I must see her."

The waiter was called, the bill was paid, a hansom was hailed, and
they were rolling westward. In the pleasure of this little
expedition, Mike's rankling animosity was almost forgotten. He said--

"I love this drive west; I love to see London opening up, as it were,
before the wheels of the hansom--Trafalgar Square, the Clubs, Pall
Mall, St. James' Street, Piccadilly, the descent, and then the
gracious ascent beneath the trees. You see how I anticipate it all."

"Do you remember that morning when Lady Helen committed suicide? What
did you think of my article?"

"I didn't s