s weak.

"Now my testimony as a youngster would go a very little way, if
unsupported against his; but if you will give me a solemn promise
that you will never play baccarat again, I will get two or three
fellows to watch him. Then, if we can prove that he plays unfairly,
of course you will be able to repudiate payment of the money he has
won of you."

"Good heaven! It would be the saving of me, and I will willingly
give you the promise you want. But you must surely be mistaken!
Sanders certainly has had wonderful luck, but I have never heard a
suggestion that he does not play fair. I only know that there is a
good deal of shyness about playing with him. You see, it is a
frightful thing to accuse a man of cheating."

"I admit that it is not pleasant; but if a man cheats, and is found
out, it is the duty of every honest man to denounce him, if they
detect him.

"Well, if you don't mind, I will take Lindsay, Holmes, and Tritton
into my confidence. They all play occasionally, and you must let me
mention that you are altogether in his power; and that, unless he
is detected, you will have to leave the regiment. Mind, don't you
watch him yourself. Play even more recklessly than usual; that will
make him a bit careless."

"Well, there is a possibility that you are right, Bullen, and if
you can but detect him, you will save me from frightful disgrace."

"I will try, anyhow."

Bullen sent a note to the officers he had mentioned, asking them to
come to his quarters, as he particularly wished to speak to them.
In a quarter of an hour they joined him.

"Well, what is up, Bullen?" Tritton said. "What do you want with
us?"

"It is a serious business, Tritton. That fellow Sanders owns chits
of Gordon's to the amount of fifteen hundred pounds."

An exclamation of dismay broke from his hearers.

"Good heavens!" Tritton exclaimed, "how could he possibly have lost
so much as that? I know that the play has been high; but still,
even with the worst luck, a man could hardly lose so much as that."

"I fancy that, after the party in the mess room has broken up,
several of them used to adjourn to Sanders' quarters; and it was
there that the great bulk of the money was lost."

"What a fool Gordon has been!" Lindsay said. "What a madman! Such a
good fellow, too!

"Well, of course, nothing can be done. If it were only a hundred or
two, the money would be subscribed at once; but fifteen hundred is
utterly beyond us. What is he th