aming and shouting and struggling and riot indescribable. Those
round about us went on cursing Anastasius, who sat quite still, with
quivering lips, as helpless as a rabbit. The raven tore his way
through the throng around the Englishman and came up to me excited and
dishevelled.

"It is all your fault, Monsieur," he shrieked, "for introducing into the
club a half-witted creature like that."

"Yes, it's your fault," cried a low-browed, ugly fellow looking like
a butcher in uneasy circumstances who stood next to me. Suddenly the
avalanche of indignation fell upon my head. Angry, ugly men crowded
round me and began to curse me instead of the dwarf. Cries arose. The
adventure began, indeed, to grow idiotically perilous. I had never been
thrown out of doors in my life. I objected strongly to the idea. It
might possibly hurt my body, and would certainly offend my dignity. I
felt that I could not make my exit through the portals of life with the
urbanity on which I had counted, if, as a preparatory step, I had been
thrown out of a gambling-hell. There were only two things to be done.
Either I must whip out my ridiculous revolver and do some free shooting,
or I must make an appeal to the lower feelings of the assembly. I chose
the latter alternative. With a sudden movement I slipped through the
angry and gesticulating crowd, and leaped on a chair by one of the
deserted _ecarte_ tables. Then I raised a commanding arm, and, in my
best election-meeting voice, I cried:

"_Messieurs_!"

The unexpectedness of the manoeuvre caused instant silence.

"As my friend and myself," I said, "are the cause of this unpleasant
confusion, I shall be most happy to pay the banker the losses of the
tableau."

And I drew out and brandished my pocket-book, in which, by a special
grace of Providence, there happened to be a considerable sum of money.

Murmurs of approbation arose. Then the Englishman sang out:

"But what about the money we would have won, if that little fool had
played the game properly?"

The remark was received with cheers.

"That amount, too," said I, "I shall be happy to disburse."

There was nothing more to be said, as everybody, banker and punt, were
satisfied. The raven in the dinner-jacket came up and informed me that
my proposal solved the difficulty. I besought him to make out the bill
for my little entertainment as quickly as possible. Then I dismounted
from my chair and beckoned to the dwarf, still sitting whit