quandered in unfortunate betting transactions.

"'His travelling expenses must come to a big sum,' said the eldest
Brimley Bomefield one day; 'they say he attends every race-meeting in
England, besides others abroad. I shouldn't wonder if he went all the
way to India to see the race for the Calcutta Sweepstake that one hears
so much about.'

"'Travel enlarges the mind, my dear Christine,' said her aunt.

"'Yes, dear aunt, travel undertaken in the right spirit,' agreed
Christine; 'but travel pursued merely as a means towards gambling and
extravagant living is more likely to contract the purse than to enlarge
the mind. However, as long as Roger enjoys himself, I suppose he
doesn't care how fast or unprofitably the money goes, or where he is to
find more. It seems a pity, that's all.'

"The aunt by that time had begun to talk of something else, and it was
doubtful if Christine's moralizing had been even accorded a hearing.
It was her remark, however--the aunt's remark, I mean--about travel
enlarging the mind, that gave the youngest Brimley Bomefield her great
idea for the showing-up of Roger.

"'If aunt could only be taken somewhere to see him gambling and
throwing away money,' she said, 'it would open her eyes to his
character more effectually than anything we can say.'

"'My dear Veronique,' said her sisters, 'we can't go following him to
race-meetings.'

"'Certainly not to race-meetings,' said Veronique, 'but we might go to
some place where one can look on at gambling without taking part in it.'

"'Do you mean Monte Carlo?' they asked her, beginning to jump rather at
the idea.

"'Monte Carlo is a long way off, and has a dreadful reputation,' said
Veronique; 'I shouldn't like to tell our friends that we were going to
Monte Carlo. But I believe Roger usually goes to Dieppe about this
time of year, and some quite respectable English people go there, and
the journey wouldn't be expensive. If aunt could stand the Channel
crossing the change of scene might do her a lot of good.'

"And that was how the fateful idea came to the Brimley Bomefields.

"From the very first set-off disaster hung over the expedition, as they
afterwards remembered. To begin with, all the Brimley Bomefields were
extremely unwell during the crossing, while the aunt enjoyed the sea
air and made friends with all manner of strange travelling companions.
Then, although it was many years since she had been on the Continent,
she had served