Strangely enough, Delapine lost his own little stakes more often than he won, as he allowed them to remain on any squares they chanced to fall on. Now and again a coin would drop on the line between two squares--à cheval--or covering four numbers--en carré. Sometimes the croupier would sweep them into the bank--sometimes Delapine would receive eleven or eight times his stake. When this happened he would quietly pick up his winnings so as to compensate for his other losses, but as often as not he did not trouble to collect his winnings, but allowed them to remain on the table until they were swept off by the remorseless rake. "Look at that fool of a man," whispered one of the lady players, pointing to Delapine. "He sits there staring at the wheel like an idiot, and actually forgot to take up his money, and now it's all swept away. What a fool. Well, it serves him right." "Yes," replied her companion, "he's evidently a bit soft in the head. What a pity he didn't ask me to play for him." During the intervals when the wheel was at rest, or when it had just started revolving, Delapine would quietly look round the tables and make a mental note of the characters assembled. Payot's eyes nearly started out of his head when he saw Renée's huge pile of notes creeping up minute by minute. He touched the professor and spoke to him. Delapine, however, did not for one moment appear to notice, and Renée, dreading lest her father should break the spell, touched him on the shoulder. "Please, father, do keep quiet, or you'll spoil everything." Payot had the good sense to take the hint and made no further attempt to interrupt. It was not long before the news of Renée's amazing good fortune spread to the other tables, and soon she found herself surrounded by an eager crowd, pushing and jostling each other in their anxiety to see not only the numbers she was backing, but the lucky player herself. She had just placed the maximum on ten different chances, and several of the others, noticing how uniformly successful she was, put their money on the same numbers and squares. Nine out of the ten stakes won, and as the croupiers were paying out the money they suddenly stopped. The bank was broken! The news spread like wild fire all over the room, and a ringing cheer rose from the crowd. Renée's pile had reached 700,000 francs. A few minutes later two attendants came in carrying a large steel box containing a fresh supply of money. Everyone now resolved to stake his or her cash on the same ventures as Renée. Delapine who was quietly watching the greedy looks of the crowd round and in front of Renée, squeezed her hand unnoticed in a peculiar way which conveyed to her the hidden meaning. Scribbling a few words on a piece of paper which he folded up, Delapine whispered to Renée, and at the same time handed the folded paper to Payot. The latter opened the note and read:--