Taking half a dozen Napoleons from his pocket, he wrote the words 'Je suis voleur' (I am a thief) across the face of each in bold black letters, and stepping forwards he tossed them with the printed face downwards on the lines of several squares near her. The wheel spun round, and just before the croupier shouted the usual formula "No further play allowed," the woman in question gently pushed one of the coins with her sleeve over the border into the "manque" square. The ball dropped into number ten. "Dix, noir, pair, et manque," cried the croupier. Her piece was pushed towards her by the dealer as at the same time he tossed a Napoleon into the manque square. The old lady at once picked the two coins up, but Delapine was too quick for her. Seizing her closed hand he said very quietly, "Excuse me, these are my winnings." The lady became highly indignant. "How dare you," she cried, "these are my coins. One of them I put down myself and the other was added by the croupier." Delapine immediately called one of the officials. "Open your hand, madame, and let the coin be your judge before this official." The lady stared at Delapine and hesitated to do so, but the look the professor gave her caused her to obey him at once. "Please turn the coins over," said Delapine to the attendant. He turned them over and the words "Je suis voleur" stared her in the face. She dropped the coins and grew pale as death. The lady was at once escorted to the door by two officials, and politely bowed out of the building, vehemently protesting her innocence. Four out of the six stakes were in Delapine's favour, and handing his winnings to the officials he quietly walked to another part of the room. "Do tell us some more about the game," said Renée to her lover. "Well, there is not much more to say." "Are all the people playing, and do they all play the same way?" "By no means, they are quite different. The players may be divided into three classes," said Delapine with a cynical smile. "First, those who play in order to retrieve their fortunes with an eye to the main chance--such people invariably lose their money. Secondly, those who play merely for the fun of the thing--these sometimes win, because they know when to leave off. And lastly there are those who look on. They enjoy the fun because it costs them nothing, and at the same time they flatter their vanity by giving advice--which by the way is always wrong, with a superb faith in their own infallibility." "Where do the plungers come in, professor?" asked Riche. "The plungers! Oh, they consist of men who have either everything or nothing to lose, and women who always play with other people's money. Look there," he added, pointing to a beautiful fair woman with a long graceful neck ornamented by a diamond necklace ending in a magnificent diamond and sapphire pendant. She was very elegantly dressed, and was sitting at the table with a sheaf of bank notes and several rolls of gold between her hands.