old lady failed to understand the situation; but, as soon
as she saw the croupier raking in her four thousand gulden, together
with everything else that happened to be lying on the table, and
recognised that the zero which had been so long turning up, and on
which we had lost nearly two hundred ten-gulden pieces, had at length,
as though of set purpose, made a sudden reappearance--why, the poor old
lady fell to cursing it, and to throwing herself about, and wailing and
gesticulating at the company at large. Indeed, some people in our
vicinity actually burst out laughing.

"To think that that accursed zero should have turned up NOW!" she
sobbed. "The accursed, accursed thing! And, it is all YOUR fault," she
added, rounding upon me in a frenzy. "It was you who persuaded me to
cease staking upon it."

"But, Madame, I only explained the game to you. How am I to answer for
every mischance which may occur in it?"

"You and your mischances!" she whispered threateningly. "Go! Away at
once!"

"Farewell, then, Madame." And I turned to depart.

"No--stay," she put in hastily. "Where are you going to? Why should you
leave me? You fool! No, no... stay here. It is I who was the fool. Tell
me what I ought to do."

"I cannot take it upon myself to advise you, for you will only blame me
if I do so. Play at your own discretion. Say exactly what you wish
staked, and I will stake it."

"Very well. Stake another four thousand gulden upon the red. Take this
banknote to do it with. I have still got twenty thousand roubles in
actual cash."

"But," I whispered, "such a quantity of money--"

"Never mind. I cannot rest until I have won back my losses. Stake!"

I staked, and we lost.

"Stake again, stake again--eight thousand at a stroke!"

"I cannot, Madame. The largest stake allowed is four thousand gulden."

"Well, then; stake four thousand."

This time we won, and the Grandmother recovered herself a little.

"You see, you see!" she exclaimed as she nudged me. "Stake another four
thousand."

I did so, and lost. Again, and yet again, we lost. "Madame, your twelve
thousand gulden are now gone," at length I reported.

"I see they are," she replied with, as it were, the calmness of
despair. "I see they are," she muttered again as she gazed straight in
front of her, like a person lost in thought. "Ah well, I do not mean to
rest until I have staked another four thousand."

"But you have no money with which to do it, Madame. In