a hilarious and
reckless mood when they started playing roulette. After they used up the
money they had with them, they were allowed to continue playing on
credit, chips being supplied to them as called for. My friend, after
losing more than he could afford, was urged by desperation to keep on
trying to recoup, and when he finally left the house, in the early hours
of the morning, he had lost ten thousand dollars. That was the situation
which faced him in his sober senses, the next day.

A gambling debt has no standing in law. No legal claim of any kind could
be made against him and he was perfectly aware of the fact. The
proprietor of the establishment was a thoroughly unscrupulous
individual with a shady record, and the games played there were open to
a suspicion of crookedness. My friend had previously been told that. He
had only to let the loss go unpaid and ignore the whole incident,
without the slightest fear of consequences, so far as honest people were
concerned.

But this young man felt that such conduct would not be honorable. So he
went to the place again, explained to the proprietor his financial
situation and promised to pay off as much as he could, year by year,
until the debt was cancelled. It took him five years to accomplish this,
and during that time, he stuck faithfully to a resolve not to touch a
card or gamble in any way. Later on the young man became vice-president
of one of the largest financial institutions in America, a position
which he still holds. He had then, and still has a sense of honor.

Many a gentleman of good breeding and fine feelings has told deliberate
lies and perjured himself under oath, in order to shield the reputation
of a lady. Even though he may be under no personal obligation to the
lady in question, but merely an accidental witness of some occurrence, a
certain kind of man feels compelled by his sense of honor to protect
her. It is not honest to tell a lie, it is a legal offense to perjure
one's self; there is no reason of the intellect to make you bear false
witness and defeat the ends of justice for the sake of an individual,
who may have done wrong and be deserving of punishment.

Yet so it is and among those who share this sense there is a beauty and
nobility about such conduct which is akin to that of a sunset or moonlit
night.

Let us take an example of a more commonplace kind in the business world.
Suppose a certain individual, Jones, living in a small communi