136 A Sportsman at Large 



the first colours which I adopted (viz., orange ; lemon sleeves 

 and cap), when I became the proud possessor of a racehorse 

 of sorts. (Excuse this banal " aside/') Oh, what a trans- 

 formation ! What a tonic for a poor invalid (alleged) ! 



After spending a few days at Cannes and Nice, Ted and I 

 drifted on to "Monte," as was only natural, considering that, 

 at that time, I was but twenty-three years of age and Ted 

 my junior by thirty-three months ! 



Nor is it strange that, having secured our billets at the 

 Hotel Beau Rivage and enjoyed an excellent table d'hote, 

 we should decide to make our way to the celebrated Casino. 

 Having procured our " cartes a" entree " with some difficulty, 

 be it said, seeing that M. le Commissaire en chef wanted a lot 

 of persuading that my age really did exceed sixteen ! (I was 

 very small and youthful-looking in those days) we passed 

 through the sacred portals, over which should be inscribed : 

 " Abandon hope all ye who enter here/' and found ourselves 

 in " the jaws of Hell ! " We eagerly watched the game of 

 roulette and soon " became wise to its intricacies." 



After a careful investigation Ted drew me aside : 



" This is a simple proposition, Oh, my Cockie ! " he whis- 

 pered. " I suppose it is all straight going. If so, one has 

 only to wait for three ' rouges ' or three * noirs ' to turn up, 

 and then begin backing the other colour, doubling after 

 each loss. The Zero is a negligible quantity." (" Is it ? " 

 Author.) 



" Why, yes, Bullpig " (Ted's pet name) " that seems reason- 

 able. Suppose we have a dart." 



And we did. 



Moreover, would you believe it, good people ? we won 

 six hundred francs that sitting, and for four days following, 

 playing continually, we added to our store, until we had 

 banked over one hundred pounds with a five- franc unit, and a 

 hundred pound capital ! 



It is almost incredible that, during the time we were amassing 

 this desirable dross, not once did a run of more than eight 

 on one colour occur, but such is a fact. " Novices luck " I 

 suppose ! 



We became puffed up and so convinced that we. had solved 



