He gave it to her, and then stood watching to see what she would do with it. She set to work with great deliberation; first pulling a handful of sugar-plums out of her pocket, and arranging them in a little heap at her side on the table, and then proceeding with much gravity to stake them on the numbers. She would put down a bonbon and give the board a twirl; "_ving-cinq_," she would say; the ball flew round and fell into a number; it might be ten, or twenty, or twenty- five, it did not much matter; she looked to see what it was, but right or wrong, never failed to eat the bonbon--an illogical result, which contrasted quaintly with the intense seriousness with which she made her stakes. Sometimes she would place two or three sugar-plums on one number, always naming it aloud--"_trente-et-un_," "_douze-premier_," "_douze- apres_." It was the oddest game for a small thing not six years old; and there was something odd, too, in her matter-of-fact, business-like air, which amused Graham. He had seen gambling- tables during his three weeks' visit to Germany, and he felt sure that this child must have seen them too. "Eh! What an insupportable heat!" cried a harsh high-pitched voice behind him. "Monsieur Jules, I will repose myself for a few minutes, if you will have the goodness to fetch me a glass of _eau sucree. Je n'en peux plus!_" Graham, recognizing the voice, turned round, and saw the Countess G---- leaning on the arm of a young man with whom she had been dancing. "But it is really stifling!" she exclaimed, dropping into an arm-chair by the table as her partner retired. "Monsieur does not dance, apparently," she continued, addressing Horace. "Well, you are perhaps right; it is a delightful amusement, but on a night like this---- Ah! here is little Madelon. I have not seen you before to-day. How is it you are not dancing?" "I don't want to," answered the child, giving the roulette- board a twirl. "But that is not at all a pretty game that you have there," said the Countess, shaking her head; "it was not for little girls that Mademoiselle Cecile placed the roulette-board there. Where is your doll? why are you not playing with her?" "My doll is in bed; and I like this best," answered the child indifferently. "_Encore ce malheureux trente-six! Je n'ai pas de chance ce soir!_" "But little girls should not like what is naughty: and I think it would be much better if you were in bed too. Come, give me that ugly toy; there is Monsieur quite shocked to see you playing with it." Madelon looked up into Horace's face with her wide-open gaze, as if to verify this wonderful assertion; and apparently satisfied that it had been made for the sake of effect, continued her game without making any reply. "Oh, then, I really must take it away," said the Countess; "_allons_, be reasonable, _ma petite;_ let me have that, and go and dance with the other little boys and girls."