When matters were explained, however, the landlord had a horse saddled, and rode in pursuit of the gentlemen, to remind them of their forgetfulness. After riding about ten miles, he overtook them in a lonely part of the road. Here he reminded them that they had not paid their bill, upon which they presented pistols to his head, robbed him of between twenty and thirty guineas, and advised him not to travel again upon such a foolish errand, but to look better after his inn, and tell the barber to be careful how he made his bets in future. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: A three.] II The spirit of play in the eighteenth century--The Duke of Buckingham's toast--Subscription-Houses, Slaughter-Houses, and Hells--The staff of a gaming-house--Joseph Atkinson and Bellasis--Raids on King's Place and Grafton Mews--Methods employed by Bow Street officers--Speculative insurance--Increase of gaming in London owing to arrival of _émigrés_--Gambling amongst the prisoners of war--The Duc de Nivernois and the clergyman--Faro and E.O.--Crusade against West-End gamblers--The Duchess of Devonshire and "Old Nick"--Mr. Lookup--Tiger Roche--Dick England--Sad death of Mr. Damer--Plucking a pigeon. During the last ten years of the reign of George II., "that destructive fury, the spirit of play" wrought great havoc in London. Gaming was declared to have become the business rather than the amusement of persons of quality, who were accused (probably with considerable truth) of being more concerned with speculation than with the proceedings of Parliament. Estates were almost as frequently made over by whist and hazard as by deeds and settlements, whilst the chariots of the nobility might be said to roll upon four aces. As a means of settling disputes, the wager was stated to have supplanted the sword, all differences of opinion being adjusted by betting. In fashionable circles and at Court, gambling was especially prevalent. In January 1753 it was recorded that "His Majesty played at St. James's Palace on Twelfth Night for the benefit of the Groom-Porter." All the members of the Royal Family present on this occasion appear to have been winners, the Duke of Cumberland getting £3000. Amongst the losers were the Duke of Grafton and the Lords Huntingdon, Holdernesse, Ashburnham, and Hertford. The exact amount of benefit which accrued to the Groom-Porter from the evening's play does not transpire.