ame of Horace Johnson, who was a practicing dentist of that
town. Like myself, he was a wild and reckless fellow, given to
dissipation and drink, and who, like myself, had been able to conceal
the fact from his family and their friends. Johnson's prevailing vice
was an uncontrollable passion for gambling, and he had been addicted to
this practice for a long time. I afterward understood that he had
acquired this habit while attending a dental college in St. Louis, where
he had become quite an expert in the handling of cards, and was well
posted in the tricks so frequently resorted to by gamblers to fleece
their unsuspecting victims. When he returned from college and
established his business in his native town, he became the leader of a
set of fast young men, and his office was the nightly resort of his
associates, where they played and gambled frequently, until the morning
hours drove them to their homes.

"As I have said, I met Johnson at this time, and on my succeeding visit
I was introduced by him to Eugene Pearson, the assistant cashier of the
bank. That evening we spent together at Johnson's office in drinking and
card-playing. Johnson stated that there was an excellent opportunity to
make money offered, if we were disposed to accept it. I asked him what
it was, and he stated that there were quite a number of well-to-do
merchants in the town who were in the habit of meeting in a room which
they had furnished for the purpose, and where they played cards for
small amounts and for amusement.

"Johnson stated that we could readily make their acquaintance, and once
introduced into their games, it would be an easy matter to induce them
to play heavily, and then, from his knowledge of gamblers' tricks, we
could win their money in spite of them. We all agreed to this, although
Pearson declined to become an active player, because of his position in
the bank.

"On the next visit I made to Geneva, I remained over Sunday, and being
taken to the club, we managed to win several hundred dollars before
morning. This continued for some time, and always with the same success,
and as a consequence I became more reckless in my expenditure of money
than ever before, because I knew of a sure plan to replenish my pockets,
when they were empty. Shortly after this, I received a letter from
Johnson requesting me to come to Geneva as soon as possible, as he and
Pearson had devised another scheme to raise money and wanted my
assistance. Bei