l influence of the sex, assisted by wine, produced the
inevitable result. Romayne allowed himself to be led to the card table.
For a moment the General delayed the beginning of the game. After what
had happened, it was necessary that he should assert the strict sense of
justice that was in him. "We are all honorable men," he began.

"And brave men," the Commander added, admiring the General.

"And brave men," the General admitted, admiring the Commander.
"Gentlemen, if I have been led into expressing myself with unnecessary
warmth of feeling, I apologize, and regret it.

"Nobly spoken!" the Commander pronounced. The General put his hand on
his heart and bowed. The game began.

As the poorest man of the two I had escaped the attentions lavished
by the ladies on Romayne. At the same time I was obliged to pay for my
dinner, by taking some part in the proceedings of the evening. Small
stakes were allowed, I found, at roulette; and, besides, the heavy
chances in favor of the table made it hardly worth while to run the
risk of cheating in this case. I placed myself next to the least
rascally-looking man in the company, and played roulette.

For a wonder, I was successful at the first attempt. My neighbor handed
me my winnings. "I have lost every farthing I possess," he whispered to
me, piteously, "and I have a wife and children at home." I lent the poor
wretch five francs. He smiled faintly as he looked at the money. "It
reminds me," he said, "of my last transaction, when I borrowed of that
gentleman there, who is betting on the General's luck at the card table.
Beware of employing him as I did. What do you think I got for my note
of hand of four thousand francs? A hundred bottles of champagne, fifty
bottles of ink, fifty bottles of blacking, three dozen handkerchiefs,
two pictures by unknown masters, two shawls, one hundred maps,
_and_--five francs."

We went on playing. My luck deserted me; I lost, and lost, and lost
again. From time to time I looked round at the card table. The "deal"
had fallen early to the General, and it seemed to be indefinitely
prolonged. A heap of notes and gold (won mainly from Romayne, as I
afterward discovered) lay before him. As for my neighbor, the unhappy
possessor of the bottles of blacking, the pictures by unknown masters,
and the rest of it, he won, and then rashly presumed on his good
fortune. Deprived of his last farthing, he retired into a corner of the
room, and consoled himself wi