ship, arranged along on either side with straw, hay, or leaves as a
mattress, and a horsecloth as a coverlet. The gambling-houses were the
most attractive. There was music gratis, and spirits without limitation
for all who chose to play. I felt sure that I should make my fortune in
that way. How was I to get enough to stake? I must work. I found no
difficulty in obtaining employment as a labourer at high wages. In a
short time I had saved about twenty dollars. I walked into the largest
gambling-house, with my few dollars jingling in my pockets. The hall
was brilliantly lighted. It was hung with coloured silk or calico, and
adorned with mirrors and pictures. There was a gallery with a band of
music, and a bar where all sorts of viands could be obtained. There
were small tables for cards on either side, and several larger tables in
the centre, at which sat the bankers, the professional gamblers, the
owners or renters of the saloon. I walked up to one of these tables and
staked five of my hardly gained dollars against a thousand or so, and
won. I won again and again, until I found myself the owner of twenty
thousand dollars. I had never been so rich in my life, but yet it was
not a sum which would allow me to leave off. I played on all night,
losing and regaining; and at length, when the saloon was closed, I had
but a quarter of my first winning remaining. This would never do. I
determined to go the next day, and I persuaded myself that if I could
win as much as I had done the first night, I would never bet on a card
again. I returned to that hall of horrors--for so it was, in spite of
its gilding and mirrors and music. The haggard, pallid countenances of
the professional players, almost Satanic in their calmness; the excited,
eager looks of those who had come in the hopes, by staking their all, of
clearing themselves from difficulties, or, by rapidly acquiring wealth;
of being able to return to their far-distant homes! To a considerable
number, I believe, the scene was thoroughly distasteful; and yet,
infatuated folly led them, as it did me, there. I won at first; but
fortune turned against me, and I went on losing rapidly. If I staked
high, I lost; if low, it was the same. Every instant I expected to have
my first good luck come back, till I discovered that, to the very last
dollar, my pocket was cleared out. But I saw a terrible sight that
evening--I spare you the particulars--the suicide of a poo