"And I--and I have done the same thing! Thinking that perhaps I, having never gambled, might be lucky enough to win back what my brother lost, I have risked and lost the money realized on my jewels for passage home!" "Use this louis to send home for money," I urged. "I dare not, I dare not! My father would disown my brother; and I love my brother!" Sisters, sometimes, are very fond beings. Suddenly she raised her despairing face to mine. "You,--you take the louis and play it; you!" "I?" "Yes, yes! Certainly it must be lucky. Play it, sir; play it!" I caught her enthusiasm and excitement. "I will play it only on one condition." "What is that?" she asked, rising. There was a bit of distrust in her tones. "That you shall--" "Sir, you said you were honorable!" "Let me complete the sentence," said I. "The condition is that you shall stand beside me and tell me what to play." She was silent. "And share good fortune or bad." "Good fortune or bad," she repeated. She hesitated for a moment; then made a gesture. "What matters it now? I will go with you, and do as you desire. I shall trust you. I believe you to be a gentleman. Come." So together we returned to that fatal room and sought out the very table where we had suffered our losses. "How old are you?" she asked quietly. "Twenty-nine." "Play it, play it!" She flushed, and then grew as pale as the ivory ball itself. "Make your game, gentlemen!" cried the croupier. A phantom grin spread over his face as he saw me. I laid the louis on 29. "The game is made!" The ball whirred toward fortune or ruin. I shut my eyes, and became conscious of a grip like iron on my arm. It was the girl. Her lips were parted. You could see the whole iris, so widely were her eyes opened. So I stared down at her, at the ringless hand clinging to my arm. I simply would not look at the ball. "Twenty-nine wins, black and odd!" sang out the croupier. He nodded at me, smiling. The croupier is always gracious to those who win, strange as this may seem. I made as though to sweep in the winnings, but the pressure on my arm stayed the movement. "Leave it there, Mr. Chadwick; do not touch it!" Ah, that blind Madonna! The number repeated, and the gold and bank notes which were pushed in my direction seemed like a fortune to me. I turned to her, expecting her to faint at the sight of this unprecedented luck. No! her face was as calm as that of one of the marble Venuses. But her hand was still tense upon my arm. As a matter of fact, my arm began to ache, but I dared not call her attention to it. "Wait!" she said. "Skip one." I did so. "I am twenty-three; play a hundred louis on that number." I placed the stake. My hands trembled so violently that the gold tumbled and rolled about the table. I gathered it quickly, and replaced it as the croupier bawled out that the game was made.