Related article: himself and threw back his head in a firm, resolute way. A man to go his own road, neither seeking nor taking advice, but yet given to reverie, for his eyes at times had an abstracted, far-away look in them, as though he was deep in thought working out some mental problem or abstruse cal- culation. Just now he was concentrated upon the game of roulette that went on rather languidly before him. He followed all its pro- cesses closely, intently watching the wheel as it revolved, noting the drop of the ball, and recording every result, the whole of the chances as they came up, in a pocket-book, the pages of which were ruled and sub-divided into columns after a peculiar fashion. "He is going to try some precious system of his own," whispered Gustaf to his friend. "That is better for us. Last time it was sheer luck. Now he will surely lose." But all that day De Soto stood aloof, and never staked a sou. Still the game went on, to the monotonous invitation of "faites vos jeux" the constant chorus " le jeu est fait" "rien ne va plus" and still De Soto kept his score with minute unwearied patience, and still he never played ; neither that day nor the next, nor yet the third, and when at last he began it was tentatively, cautiously, a two-franc piece upon one even chance after another — the two colours passe or manque, pair or 354 baily's magazine. [Mat impair. He was trying his luck, testing it, tasting it, asking the fickle goddess whether she would extend or withhold her favours. He won three times, and thus encouraged, started to play in real earnest. " Now we shall see," whispered the croupiers to each other. " A large game and a bold." " The finials of zero ; a louis on each, en plcin" said De Soto, quietly entrusting four louis to the Buy Lithobid nearest croupier, who placed one on the numbers o, 10, 20 and 30. Then the wheel ran round, and the ball whizzed fast, rolling and rattling but with weakening impetus, till presently it fell into a niche, and the croupier announced the coup. " Vingt. Noir, pair et passe" It was one of De Soto's numbers 20, and he now pro- ceeded to back his luck. This number 20 which had thus favoured him he followed up, staking again upon it en piein full, and all around it, a cheval, the carres, and tranversales. He Lithobid 300 was careful to keep within the maxi- mum stake for the single great coup, and put no more than eight pieces, or 160 francs, en plein. But he could win at least two maximums more by the more remote chances into which 20 entered, and when it came up r as it did, five times in succession, De Soto found that he had netted something over 30,000 francs in less than half an hour. He was perfectly satisfied, and buttoning up his pockets, walked quietly away. . He reappeared next morning directly the room was opened, and pursued precisely the same plan. For three days he made his observations with the same elabo- rate exactitude ; at the end he staked as before on the " finials," but of a different number, 3, which did not answer his expec- tations ; he then tried 5, staking on 5, 15, 25, and 35, with the result that he won on "5," which rewarded him by reappearing three times. It would be tedious to follow De Soto day after day, to describe all the game in detail, which varied continually, but which he caught as continually, and ever turned to his own advantage. His peculiar play, his patience, his impassive demeanour, the restraint he put upon himself never to tempt his luck too far, above all that luck, so unvarying, so phenomenally in his favour, attracted general attention. It drew the head of the establish- ment, M. Blanc himself, to watch his proceedings a little anxiously perhaps, although he gave no sign. De Soto's winnings were making serious inroads into Lithobid 300 Mg the bank, and although the old /ofcur knew that the game was full of vicissitudes, and the balance of chances must be on his side in the long run, he felt that he might be sorely pressed ; might have to draw upon his reserves before the turn of the tide. This seemed the more likely when De Soto sought to change the conditions of the game. Under the existing rules the maximum paid for a single c