per. After that we shall be better
prepared to face our chance. Do you agree?"

"I agree," said Tom, sadly.

We took our hats, extinguished the candle, and stumbled down the
stairs into the night.

We ordered supper at an eating-house in the Strand, and in all my
life I cannot recall a merrier meal than this, which, for all we
knew, would be our last. The very thought lent a touch of bravado to
my humour, and presently Tom caught the infection. It was not a
sumptuous meal in itself, but princely to our ordinary fare; and the
unaccustomed taste of beer loosened our tongues, until our mirth
fairly astonished our fellow-diners. At length the waiter came with
the news that it was time for closing. Tom called for the bill, and
finding that it came to half-a-crown apiece, ordered two sixpenny
cigars, and tossed the odd eightpence halfpenny to the waiter,
announcing at the same time that this was our last meal on earth.
This done, he gravely handed me four half-crowns, and rose to leave.
I rose also, and once more we stepped into the night.

Since the days of which I write, Leicester Square has greatly
changed. Then it was an intricate, and, by night, even a dangerous
quarter, chiefly given over to foreigners. As we trudged through
innumerable by-streets and squalid alleys, I wondered if Tom had
not forgotten his way. At length, however, we turned up a blind
alley, lit by one struggling gas-jet, and knocked at a low door.
It was opened almost immediately, and we groped our way up another
black passage to a second door. Here Tom gave three knocks very loud
and distinct. A voice cried, "Open," the door swung back before us,
and a blaze of light flashed in our faces.

CHAPTER II.

TELLS OF THE LUCK OF THE GOLDEN CLASP.

As the door swung back I became conscious first of a flood of light
that completely dazzled my eyes, next of the buzz of many voices that
confused my hearing. By slow degrees, however, the noise and glare
grew familiar and my senses were able to take in the strange scene.

I stood in a large room furnished after the fashion of a
drawing-room, and resplendent with candles and gilding. The carpet
was rich, the walls were hung with pictures, which if garish in
colour were not tasteless in design, and between these glittered a
quantity of gilded mirrors that caught and reflected the rays of a
huge candelabrum depending from the centre of the ceiling.
Innumerable wax candles also shone in