the folly of his proceedings, and the young
fellow declared that he would retire from the table, if luck went
against him. But the mania was too strong for him.

"It is extraordinary what bad luck I have," he said, one day. "I
almost always win at the beginning of the evening; and then, when I
get thoroughly set, my winnings are swept away."

"Why don't you get up when you are a winner?"

"That would be very bad form, Bullen; a fellow who did that would
be considered a cad."

"I should strongly advise you to give it up, altogether."

Lisle observed with regret that his friend's spirits fell, and that
he became moody and irritable. One day, when he went into his
quarters, he found him sitting with a look of misery upon his face.

"What is it, Gordon?" he asked. "I hope I am not in the way?"

"Well, it has come to this," the young officer said. "I am at the
end of my tether. I shall have to leave the regiment."

"Nonsense!" Lisle replied.

"It is true. I owe a lot of money to that fellow Sanders. He has
bought up all my chits, and this is a note from him, saying that he
has waited two or three months, but must now request me to pay up
without further delay. Besides my pay, I have only eighteen hundred
pounds, that was left me by an old aunt; but that will barely cover
what I owe. Of course I can hold on on my pay; but the loss of so
much money will make a lot of difference, and I fear I shall have
to transfer. It is hard lines, because I am now pretty high on the
list of lieutenants; and shall, of course, have to go to the bottom
of the list.

"The only alternative would be to enlist in some white regiment
that has lately come out. There are plenty of gentlemen in the
ranks. I certainly see no other way."

"I had no idea it was so bad as that, Gordon. Surely there must be
some other way out of the difficulty. I could lend you a couple of
hundred pounds."

"Thank you, old fellow! But I am so deeply in debt that that would
make no difference."

"I am not sure that there is not something else to be done," said
Lisle. "While I sit watching the play, I can see more than the
players can; and since I have noticed that Sanders persistently
wins, directly the stakes get high, I have watched him very
closely, and am convinced that he does not play fair. It has struck
me that he withdraws the money on his cards when he sees that the
dealer has a strong hand, and adds to his stake when he considers
that the dealer i