The band stopped; and it was then that I became conscious of a sound like that of sobbing. Across the path I discovered the figure of a woman. She was weeping on her arms which were thrown over the back of the seat. The spot was secluded. Just then some yacht below sent up a rocket which burst above us in a warm glow--It was the young woman I had seen at the table. I arose to approach her, when I saw something glittering at her feet. It proved to be a solitary louis. I stooped and picked it up, joyful at the chance of having an excuse to speak to the girl. "Mademoiselle, you have dropped a louis." "I, monsieur? Oh!" Evidently she had recognized me. "I have dropped no gold here,"--striving to check the hiccoughs into which her sobs had turned. "But I found it close to your feet," I explained. "It is not mine, monsieur; it is not mine! Leave me." "You are in trouble?" I addressed this question in English. "You are English?"--as one who grasps at a straw. "Almost; I am an American. I observed you at the Casino to-night. You have suffered some losses," I suggested gently. "That is my affair, sir!"--with sudden dignity. "May I not offer you some aid?" I asked, forgetting that, if anything, I was worse off than she could possibly be. I turned the louis over and over. What a terrible thing gambling was! "My proposal is perfectly honorable. I am a gentleman. You have committed a folly to-night, a folly which you have never before committed and which doubtless you will never commit again. Where is your brother? Are you here alone, without masculine protection?" "My brother?" The rockets soared again; and the agony written on the girl's face excited something stronger than pity. I fumbled in a pocket and drew forth a card. "My name is Chadwick; permit me--" Then I laughed insanely, even hysterically. "I beg your pardon! I was about to offer you material assistance. I haven't a penny in the world, and nothing of value save a pair of cuff-buttons. In fact, I don't see how I am to leave this wretched place." This odd confession aroused her interest. "You have lost all your money, too?" Too! So I had read shrewdly. She was in the same predicament as myself. "Yes. Won't you accept this louis?" "A single louis?" She laughed wildly. "A single louis? What good would that do me?" "But where is your brother?" "He is ill at the hotel. Oh, I am the most unhappy woman in the world!" And her sobbing broke forth afresh. "Pardon my former deception, but I understand German perfectly well." "You?" "Yes. I was a passenger in the same coach which brought you from Dieppe to Paris last fall. Perhaps you do not remember me; but I recollect the conversation between you and your brother. He has gambled away money which did not belong to him--even as I have gambled away my patrimony and the family roof."