They went in company, and Felix, having a deeper purpose in his mind than idle amusement, saw much to astonish him. As they were making their way through a crowd of sharks and gulls, Charley pulled his sleeve, and said, "There! There's a man who had over a hundred pounds of my money." Turning, Felix saw Mr. David Sheldrake, evidently very much at home. Felix, not wishing to be seen by Mr. Sheldrake, walked away, and watched him from a distance. "Is he a betting-man?" asked Felix. "O, yes; and as sharp as a needle." "Does he attend these meetings regularly?" "You seem to be interested in him, Felix." "Yes, I know him." "And don't like him, evidently," observed Charley, judging from his friend's tone. "That is true; I don't like him. But you haven't answered my question." "I have met him on nearly every race-course I have been to; he is always to be seen in the 'ring,' I should say." Felix did not pursue the subject, but later in the day said, "Have you any documents, Charley, connected with your betting experiences, or have you destroyed them?" "I have them all. By-the-bye, they might be useful to you; there are some strange things among them--well, perhaps not strange in themselves, but strange that such things should be allowed. It would be a good subject for you to take up." "Any letters from that man?" "O, yes; suppose I send you the packet?" "I should like to see them." They were received in due course by Felix, and they so interested him that he began from that time to subscribe to the sporting papers, and to make a regular study of the usually unprofitable theme. Any person who did not know Felix's character might reasonably have supposed that he had been bitten by the mania, and that he was beginning to entertain the idea that he might make a fortune by betting with sharps. They would have had ample grounds for so supposing, if they had known that Felix actually sent small sums in stamps to the prophets and tipsters and the layers of odds who advertised in the sporting papers, for the purpose of obtaining the information necessary for the rapid and certain realisation of "fabulous sums"--a phrase which many of the advertisers used in the traps they set, unconscious of the ironical truth it contained. But what Felix was doing was a means to another end, and he lost his money cheerfully. He began to frequent race-courses also, and on one occasion, early in his experience, he saw Lily's brother, as he expected to see him, running hither and thither in a state of blind excitement. With a set determination, Felix watched the young man during the whole of the day, saw the fatal infatuation which urged him onwards, and saw him pass through the various stages of hope, suspense, and agony. Felix saw more with the eyes of his mind; he saw ruin waiting at Alfred's heels. Felix had met with an old legend which stated how every human being was attended by two angels, one bad, one good, and how they