They have many
visitors,' said I, 'many more than I could have believed.' "'Yes, they are all _bona fide_ players; men of stamp and rank--none of
your seedy legs who have only what they can cheat you out
of.'--'Ah!' --'And besides,' he added, 'you may often form friendships
here that lead to fortune hereafter. I do not mean in play, because
there is no necessity for your doing so, or, if you do so, in going
above a stake which you know won't hurt you.'--'Exactly.' "'Many men can never approach a table like this, and sit down to an
hour's play, but, if they do, they must stake not only more than they
can afford, but all their property, leaving themselves beggars.' 'They
do?" said I. "'But men who know themselves, their resources, and choose to indulge
for a time, may often come and lay the foundation to a very pretty
fortune.' "'Do you see your friend?' I inquired.--'No, I do not; but I will
inquire if he has been here--if not, we will go.' "He left me for a moment or two to make some inquiry, and I stood
looking at the table, where there were four players, and who seemed to
be engaged at a friendly game; and when one party won they looked grave,
and when the other party lost they smiled and looked happy. I walked
away, as the chevalier did not return immediately to me; and then I saw
a gentleman rise up from a table. He had evidently lost. I was standing
by the seat, unconsciously holding the back in my hand. I sat down
without thinking or without speaking, and found myself at the hazard
table. "'Do you play, sir?' --'Yes,' I said. I had hardly uttered the words when
I was sorry for them; but I could not recall them. I sat down, and play
at once commenced. "In about ten or fifteen minutes, often losing and then winning, I found
myself about a hundred and twenty pounds in pocket, clear gain by the
play. "'Ah!' said the chevalier, who came up at that moment, 'I thought you
wouldn't play.' --'I really don't know how it happened,' said I, 'but I
suddenly found myself here without any previous intention.' "'You are not a loser, I hope?' --'Indeed I am not,' I replied; 'but not
much a gainer.' "'Nor need you desire to be. Do you desire to give your adversary his
revenge now, or take another opportunity.' --'At another time,' I
replied. "'You will find me here the day after to-morrow, when I shall be at your
service;' then bowing, he turned away. "'He is a very rich man whom you have been playing with,' said the
chevalier.--"

"Indeed!" "'Yes, and I have known him to lose for three days together; but you may
take his word for any amount; he is a perfect gentleman and man of
honour.' --''Tis well to play with such,' I replied; 'but I suppose you
are about to leave.' "'Yes, it grows late, and I have some business to transact to-morrow, so
I must leave.' --'I will accompany you part of the way home,' said I,
'and then I shall have finished the night.' "I did leave with him, and accompanied him home, and then walked to my
own home." *       *       *       *       *

"This was my first visit, and I thought a propitious beginning, but it
was the more dangerous. Perhaps a loss might have effectually deterred
me, but it is doubtful to tell how certain events might have been
altered. It is just possible that I might have been urged on by my
desire to retrieve any loss I might have incurred, and so made myself at
once the miserable being it took months to accomplish in bringing me to. "I went the day but one after this, to meet the same individual at the
gambling-table, and played some time with varied success, until I left
off with a trifling loss upon the night's play, which was nothing of any
consequence. [Illustration]

"Thus matters went on; I sometimes won and sometimes lost, until I won a
few hundreds, and this determined me to play for higher stakes than any
I had yet played for. "It was no use going on in the peddling style I had been going on; I had
won two hundred and fifty pounds in three months, and had I been less
fearful I might have had twenty-five thousand pounds. Ah! I'll try my
fortune at a higher game. "Having once made this resolution, I was anxious to begin my new plan,
which I hoped would have the effect of placing me far above my then
present position in society, which was good, and with a little attention
it would have made me an independent man; but then it required patience,
and nothing more. However, the other method was so superior since it
might all be done with good luck in a few months. Ah! good luck; how
uncertain is good luck; how changeful is fortune; how soon is the best
prospect blighted by the frosts of adversity. In less than a month I had
lost more than I could pay, and then I gambled on for a living. "My wife had but one child; her first and only one; an infant at her
breast; but there was a change came over her; for one had come over
me--a fearful one it was too--one not only in manner but in fortune too. She would beg me to come home early; to attend to other matters, and
leave the dreadful life I was then leading. "'Lizzy,' said I, 'we are ruined.'--'Ruined!' she exclaimed, and
staggered back, until she fell into a seat. 'Ruined!' "'Ay, ruined. It is a short word, but expressive.' --'No, no, we are not
ruined. I know what you mean, you would say, we cannot live as we have
lived; we must retrench, and so we will, right willingly.' "'You must retrench most wonderfully,' I said, with desperate calmness,
'for the murder must out.' --'And so we will; but you will be with us;
you will not go out night after night, ruining your health, our
happiness, and destroying both peace and prospects.' "'No, no, Lizzy, we have no chance of recovering ourselves; house and
home--all gone--all, all.' --'My God!' she exclaimed. "'Ay, rail on,' said I; 'you have cause enough; but, no matter--we have
lost all.'--'How--how?' "'It is useless to ask how; I have done, and there is an end of the
matter; you shall know more another day; we must leave this house for a
lodging.' --'It matters little,' she said; 'all may be won again, if you
will but say you will quit the society of those who have ruined you.' "'No one,' said I, 'has ruined me; I did it; it was no fault of any one
else's; I have not that excuse.' --'I am sure you can recover.' "'I may; some day fortune will shower her favours upon me, and I live on
in that expectation.' --'You cannot mean that you will chance the
gaming-table? for I am sure you must have lost all there?' "'I have.' --'God help me,' she said; 'you have done your child a wrong,
but you may repair it yet.' "'Never!' --''Tis a long day! let me implore you, on my knees, to leave
this place, and adopt some other mode of life; we can be careful; a
little will do, and we shall, in time, be equal to, and better than what
we have been.' "'We never can, save by chance.' --'And by chance we never shall,' she
replied; 'if you will exert yourself, we may yet retrieve ourselves.' "'And exert myself I will.' --'And quit the gaming-table?'