"No matter," thought I; "I have already graduated at the green table; I have taken my degree in arts at Baden, and am no young hand fresh from Oxford and new to the Continent; I 'll just go down and try my luck--as a fisherman whips a stream. If they rise to my fly,--well; if not, pack up the traps, and try some other water." You know that my capital was not a strong one,--about a hundred and thirty in cash, and a bill on Drummond for a hundred more,--and with this, the governor had "cleared me out" for at least six months to come. I was therefore obliged to "come it small;" and merely dabbled away with a few "Naps.," which, by dint of extraordinary patience and intense application, I succeeded in accumulating to the gross total of sixty. As I foresaw that I could n't loiter above a day longer, I went down in the evening to experimentalize on this fund, and, after a few hours, rose a winner of thirty-two thousand odd hundred francs. The following morning, I more than doubled this; and in the evening, won a trifle of twenty thousand francs; when, seeing the game take a capricious turn, I left off, and went to supper. I was an utter stranger in the place, had not even a passing acquaintance with any one; so that, although dying for a little companionship, I had nothing for it but to order my roast partridge in my own apartment, and hobnob with myself. It is true, I was in capital spirits,--I had made glorious running, and no mistake,--and I drank my health, and returned thanks for the toast with an eloquence that really astonished me. Egad, I think the waiter must have thought me mad, as he heard me hip, hipping with "one cheer more," to the sentiment. [Illustration: 094] I suppose I must have felt called on to sing; for sing I did, and, I am afraid, with far more zeal than musical talent; for I overheard a tittering of voices outside my door, and could plainly perceive that the household had assembled as audience. What cared I for this? The world had gone too well with me of late to make me thin-skinned or peevishly disposed. I could afford to be forgiving and generous: and I revelled in the very thought that I was soaring in an atmosphere to which trifling and petty annoyances never ascended. In this enviable frame of mind was I, when a waiter presented himself with a most obsequious bow, and, in a voice of submissive civility, implored me to moderate my musical transports, since the lady who occupied the adjoining apartment was suffering terribly from headache. "Certainly, of course," was my reply at once; and as he was leaving the room,--just by way of having something to say,--I asked, "Is she young, waiter?" "Young and beautiful, sir." "An angel, eh?" "Quite handsome enough to be one, sir, I'm certain." "And her name?" "The Countess de St. Auber, widow of the celebrated Count de St. Auber, of whom Monsieur must have read in the newspapers."