“‘Pshaw!’ said Roberts, ‘never mind me. Have you paid others?’ “‘They have paid themselves.’ “‘Good! Have you formed any plan by which you expect to support yourself and family.’ “‘None,’ replied I. ‘But if I had, what means do I possess to put any scheme into execution?’ “‘Let us hit upon the scheme, and we shall find the means,’ said Roberts; ‘my purse, as well as yours, is at present at the lowest ebb. A rascal that I entrusted with a snug sum, has decamped, and left me in the lurch; and a fellow whose bond I held, has smashed, and won’t pay a shilling in the pound. But I started in life with nothing, and have been so often reduced to the same condition as at first, that, as you perceive, I take the thing quite coolly. It is true, I am a single man, and there is no one depending upon me—otherwise, I might feel the matter more seriously; but I should not sit down, and mope, and scold my friends, W——: I should be but the more prompt, the more decided, and the more persevering in my actions. Let me see; you have as yet proposed nothing to yourself. What say you to turning merchant?’ {756} “‘I know nothing about business,’ I replied, ‘and besides, I have neither capital nor credit.’ “‘The law, then? Your talents and education combine to fit you for that profession.’ “‘And what am I to live on, while I pursue the necessary study?’ “‘That’s true; one thing then is clear—money you must have, and that at once. That being the case, there is but one way to obtain it.’ “‘And that is—’ “‘By winning it,’ replied Roberts. “I started from my chair, and walked up and down the room with violence. “‘Now I pray you be calm, and listen to me attentively,’ continued the tempter. ‘You would not, I presume, object to getting back some of your losses by the same means that you made them?’ “‘And if I should not, how am I to know that I can? Has it not been, all along, my endeavor to do so, and has not each attempt invariably plunged me in deeper? Besides, I cannot play without a stake.’ “‘Let me put this question to you, W——,’ said Roberts. ‘Suppose you knew that a man had defrauded you of a certain sum of money; you had no proof, however, which could establish his guilt, and enable you to recover in a court of law. Would you, if he were by accident placed in your power, hesitate to force from him what he had deprived you of—nay, would you not deem yourself justified in using artifice to place him in that situation.’ “I replied that I could not tell; possibly under such circumstances I might do so. “‘To be sure you would,’ rejoined Roberts, ‘and all the world would applaud the deed.’ “‘But whither does your question lead?’ asked I. “‘Patience, and you shall hear,’ replied he. ‘Do you remember playing a game of brag in company with C. and F. and myself, on which occasion you and your humble servant were left minus a few thousands?’ “‘Certainly,’ said I, ‘I remember it but too well.’