ack from the table and leaned against the wall
motionless and paralysed, like a rigid stone statue. Nobody troubled
himself any further about him.

"Play was over for the night; the players were dispersing; the
Chevalier and his croupiers[4] were packing away in the strong box the
gold he had won. Then old Vertua staggered like a ghost out of the
corner towards the Chevalier and addressed him in a hoarse, hollow
voice, 'Yet a word with you, Chevalier,--only a single word.'

"'Well, what is it?' replied the Chevalier, withdrawing the key from
the lock of the strong box and measuring the old man from head to foot
with a look of contempt.

"'I have lost all my property at your bank, Chevalier,' went on the old
man; 'I have nothing, nothing left I don't know where I shall lay my
head tomorrow, nor how I shall appease my hunger. You are my last
resource, Chevalier; lend me the tenth part of the sum I have lost to
you that I may begin my business over again, and so work my way up out
of the distressed state I now am in.'

"'Whatever are you thinking about,' rejoined the Chevalier, 'whatever
are you thinking about, Signor Vertua? Don't you know that a
faro-banker never dare lend of his winnings? That's against the old
rule, and I am not going to violate it.'

"'You are right,' went on Vertua again. 'You are right, Chevalier. My
request was senseless--extravagant--the tenth part! No, lend me the
twentieth part.' 'I tell you,' replied the Chevalier impatiently, 'that
I won't lend a farthing of my winnings.'

"'True, true,' said Vertua, his face growing paler and paler and his
gaze becoming more and more set and staring, 'true, you ought not to
lend anything--I never used to do. But give some alms to a beggar--give
him a hundred _Louis d'or_ of the riches which blind Fortune has thrown
in your hands to-day.'

"'Of a verity you know how to torment people, Signor Vertua,' burst out
the Chevalier angrily. 'I tell you you won't get so much as a hundred,
nor fifty, nor twenty, no, not so much as a single _Louis d'or_ from
me. I should be mad to make you even the smallest advance, so as to
help you begin your shameful trade over again. Fate has stamped you in
the dust like a poisonous reptile, and it would simply be villainy for
me to aid you in recovering yourself. Go and perish as you deserve.'

"Pressing both hands over his face, Vertua sank on the floor with a
muffled groan. The Chevalier ordered his servant to take the st