tain Lion_ had not been in existence ten
days before it had gone on record as a thoroughly "first-class"
establishment. No wonder, then, that an air of peculiar respectability
attached itself to the "wheel" itself which revolved in a corner of the
barroom night after night, whirling into opulence or penury, such as
entrusted their fortunes to its revolutions. Despite its high-toned
patronage, however, the terms "roulette" and "croupier" found small
favor with the devotees at that particular shrine of the fickle goddess,
and Dabney Dirke, its presiding genius, was familiarly known among "the
boys," as "the boss of the wheel." "Waxey" Smithers,--he who was
supposed to have precipitated Jimmy Dolan's exit from a disappointing
world,--had been heard to say that "that feller Dirke" was too
(profanely) high-toned for the job. Nevertheless, the wheel went round
at Dirke's bidding as swiftly and uncompromisingly as heart could wish,
and to most of those gathered about that centre of attraction the "boss"
seemed an integral part of the machine.

Dabney Dirke was an ideal figure for the part he had to play. He was
tall and thin and Mephistophelian, though not of the dark complexion
which is commonly associated with Mephistopheles. His clean-shaven face
got its marked character, not from its coloring but from its cut;
Nature's chisel would seem to have been more freely used than her brush
in this particular production. The face was long and thin and severe,
the nose almost painfully sensitive, the mouth thin and firmly closed
rather than strong. The chin did not support the intention of the lips,
nor did the brows quite do their duty by the eyes, which had a steely
light, and might have gleamed with more effect if they had been somewhat
more deeply set. The hair was sparse and light, and the complexion of
that kind of paleness which takes on no deeper tinge from exposure to
sun or wind or from passing emotion.

There were two indications that "the boss of the wheel" was also a
gentleman;--he put on a clean collar every day, and he did not oil his
hair. It would have been strange indeed if two such glaring
peculiarities had escaped the subtle perception of Mr. Smithers, and it
was rather to be wondered at that such inexcusable pretensions did not
militate against the "boss" in his chosen calling.--That the calling was
in this case deliberately chosen, may as well be admitted at the outset.

Dabney Dirke had once, in a very grievo