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