ther players had also placed their stakes, some with cool calculating
precision, a few with nervous uncertainty, many with apparent
indifference. With the exception of the Count and a lady near him,
however, there was little of what might indicate very strong feeling on
any countenance. One young and pretty girl, after placing her little
pile of silver, stood awaiting the result with calm indifference--
possibly assumed. Whatever might be the thoughts or feelings of the
players, there was nothing but business-like gravity stamped on the
countenances of the four men who presided over the revolving board, each
with neatly-arranged rows of silver five-franc pieces in front of him,
and a wooden rake lying ready to hand. Each player also had a rake,
with which he or she pushed the coins staked upon a certain space of the
table, or on one of the dividing lines, which gave at least a varied, if
not a better, chance.

The process of play was short and sharp. For a few seconds the board
spun, the players continuing to place, or increase, or modify the
arrangement of the stakes up to nearly the last moment. As the board
revolved more slowly a pea fell into a hole--red or black--and upon this
the fate of each hung. A notable event, truly, on which untold millions
of money have changed hands, innumerable lives have been sacrificed, and
unspeakable misery and crime produced in days gone by!

The decision of the pea--if we may so express it--was quietly stated,
and to an ignorant spectator it seemed as if the guardians of the table
raked all the stakes into their own maws. But here and there, like
white rocks in a dark sea, several little piles were left untouched. To
the owners of these a number of silver pieces were tossed--tossed so
deftly that we might almost say it rained silver on those regions of the
table. No wizard of legerdemain ever equalled the sleight of hand with
which these men pitched, reckoned, manipulated, and raked in silver
pieces!

The Count's pile remained untouched, and a bright flush suffused his
hitherto pale cheeks while the silver rain was falling on his square,
but to the surprise of Lewis, he did not rake it towards him as did the
others. He left the increased amount on exactly the same spot, merely
drawing it gently together with his rake. As he did so the knotted
haggard look returned to his once again bloodless brow and face. Not
less precise and silent were his companions. The board ag