r the rest of the evening."

The officers, however, gathered in the room below, and talked the
matter over. There was not a whisper of regret at the disgrace that
had fallen upon Sanders. His reputation was a bad one. Since his
regiment had been in India one young officer had shot himself, and
three had been obliged to leave the army, and in all cases it was
known that these had lost large sums to him; but the matter had
been hushed up, as such scandals generally are in the army. Still,
the truth had been whispered about, and it was because none of the
officers in his regiment would play with him that he had come
habitually to the mess of the Pioneers; by which, his own regiment
having been quartered in southern India until six months
previously, nothing was known of his antecedents.

"We shall all have to be very careful, when you are looking on at
our play, Bullen," one said, laughing. "I hadn't given you credit
for having such sharp eyes; and certainly Sanders did not, either,
or he would never have tried his games on, while you were standing
watching him."

"I was not playing, you see," Lisle said, "and the players do not
trouble about onlookers, but keep their attention directed to the
dealer. Standing there evening after evening, it was really easy to
see what he was doing; for he, too, kept his attention fixed on the
dealer, and paid no heed to us who were looking on. He occasionally
did look up at us, but evidently he concluded that we were only
innocent spectators. When my suspicions were aroused, there was
really no difficulty in detecting him."

"How was it that you did not interfere before?"

"Because it was only my word against that of Sanders, and it was
only after Gordon told me how much he was in debt to the man; and
that the latter had, that morning, written to him calling upon him
to pay up, that I saw that something must be done. So I asked
Tritton, Lindsay, and Holmes to watch him closely this evening,
along with me."

"Well, I hope Gordon won't have to go," the other said. "He is an
awfully good fellow, though he has made an abject ass of himself."

"Don't you think, Prosser, that if we were all to sign a petition
to the colonel, to ask him to overlook the matter, as Gordon has
received a lesson that will certainly last his lifetime, he might
do so."

"It depends upon how much the matter becomes public. Of course,
there must be a court of enquiry in the other regiment; and if, as
is cert