you know, Lois,
people come together to be amused; and it is not everybody that can
talk, or act, sensibly for a long stretch."

"How _can_ they play cards all night?"

"Whist is very ensnaring. And the little excitement of stakes draws
people on."

"Stakes?" said Lois inquiringly.

"Sums staked on the game."

"Oh! But that is worse than foolish."

"It is to keep the game from growing tiresome. Do you see any harm in
it?"

"Why, that's gambling."

"In a small way."

"Is it always in a small way?"

"People do not generally play very high at whist."

"It is all the same thing," said Lois. "People begin with a little, and
then a little will not satisfy them."

"True; but one must take the world as one finds it."

"Is the New York world like this?" said Lois, after a moment's pause.

"No! Not in the coarseness you find Mr. Greville tells of. In the
matter of pleasure-seeking, I am afraid times and places are much
alike. Those who live for pleasure, are driven to seek it in all manner
of ways. The ways sometimes vary; the principle does not."

"And do all the men gamble?"

"No. Many do not touch cards. My friend, Mr. Dillwyn, for example."

"Mr. Dillwyn? Do you know him?"

"Very well. He was a dear friend of my husband, and has been a faithful
friend to me. Do you know him?"

"A little. I have seen him."

"You must not expect too much from the world, my dear."

"According to what you say, one must not expect _anything_ from it."

"That is too severe."

"No," said Lois. "What is there to admire or respect in a person who
lives only for pleasure?"

"Sometimes there are fine qualities, and brilliant parts, and noble
powers."

"Ah, that makes it only worse!" cried Lois. "Fine qualities, and
brilliant parts, and noble powers, all used for nothing! That _is_
miserable; and when there is so much to do in the world, too!"

"Of what kind?" asked Mrs. Barclay, curious to know her companion's
course of thought.

"O, help."

"What sort of help?"

"Almost all sorts," said Lois. "You must know even better than I. Don't
you see a great many people in New York that are in want of some sort
of help?"

"Yes; but it is not always easy to give, even where the need is
greatest. People's troubles come largely from their follies."

"Or from other people's follies."

"That is true. But how would you help, Lois?"

"Where there's a will, there's a way, Mrs. Barclay."

"You are thinking of help to