ade it. The two female figures to the left are splendidly painted.
The one who causes the other croupier to turn round seems somewhat
extravagantly dressed; but these costumes have been frequently worn
within the last two years both at Baden and Hombourg. The old lady at
the end of the table, to the left, is a well-known habituee at both
places. The bustling and shuffling eagerness of the figures in the
background is exceedingly well rendered.

'As a whole, the _Tapis Vert_ is a very fine illustration of real life,
as met with in most of the leading German watering-places.'(75)

(75) 'Illustrated Times.'

'At the present moment,' says another authority, writing more than a
year ago, 'there are three very bold female gamblers at Baden. One is
the Russian Princess ----, who plays several hours every day at _Rouge
et Noir_, and sometimes makes what in our money would be many hundreds,
and at others goes empty away. She wins calmly enough, but when luck
is against her looks anxious. The second is the wife of an Italian
ex-minister, who is well known both as an authoress and politician. She
patronizes _Roulette_, and at every turn of the wheel her money passes
on the board. She is a good gambler--smirking when she wins, and
smirking when she loses. She dresses as splendidly as any of the
dames of Paris. The other night she excited a flutter among the ladies
assembled in the salons of the "Conversation" by appearing in a robe
flaming red with an exaggerated train which dragged its slow length
along the floor. But the greatest of the feminine players is the Leonie
Leblanc. When she is at the _Rouge et Noir_ table a larger crowd than
usual is collected to witness her operation. The stake she generally
risks is 6000 francs (L240), which is the maximum allowed. Her chance is
changing: a few days back she won L4000 in one sitting; some days later
she lost about L2000, and was then reduced to the, for her, indignity of
playing for paltry sums--L20 or thereabouts.'

Among the more recent chronicles, the _Figaro_ gives the following
account of the close of the campaign of a gaming hero, M. Edgar de la
Charme, who, for a number of days together, never left the gaming-room
without carrying off the sum of 24,000 francs.

'The day before yesterday, M. de la Charme, reflecting that there must
be an end even to the greatest run of luck, locked his portmanteau, paid
his bill, and took the road to the railway station, accompanied by