od deal of its produce. Is there not something
very mean and contemptible in this state of being? On the other hand
the orator has spent laborious days and exerted much brain-power before
he made himself capable of pleasing and benefiting his fellows. The
musician has gone through exhausting drudgery and practice before being
fit to thrill or instruct by means of his sweet sounds, and the man of
wealth has had to be educated up to the point of using his possessions
to profitable account--so that his fields shall grow heavier crops than
they did when he began his work; his tenants shall be better housed than
they were at first, and shall lead healthier and happier lives to the
great moral and material advantage of the community. Nearly all the
other members of the hive produce, or help to produce, some sort of
equivalent for the money they obtain. Even those who produce what is
bad have still _something_ to show for their money, and that something,
bad though it be in one form, may be decidedly good in another form, or
if put to another use. The gambler alone--except, perhaps, the absolute
idler--enjoys the unenviable position of a thorough, out-and-out,
unmitigated drone. He does absolutely _nothing_, except produce
unhealthy excitement in himself and his fellows! He has nothing
whatever to show for the money he has obtained except `risk,' and that
can hardly be styled a commodity."

"I beg pardon," interrupted Sharp, "the gambler produces skill; and
there can be no doubt that hundreds of men derive as much pleasure from
an exhibition of skill with the billiard-cue as others derive from an
exhibition of skill with the flute or violin."

"You forget, Dick, my boy, that skill with the billiard-cue is not
gambling. What I condemn as being morally and politically wrong is
betting on games and staking anything upon the issue of them. Gamblers
are, if I may say so, a set of living pockets which circulate money
about amongst themselves, one pocket gaining neither more nor less than
what another pocket loses."

"But you are now talking of professional gamblers, Tom. Of course I
don't defend these. What I do defend is my right to play, now and then,
for sixpenny, or say shilling, or even half-crown points, without laying
myself open to the charge of having been guilty of what you term a mean,
dishonourable, unjust, contemptible act."

"In other words, you wish to steal now and then without being called a
thief!