on of feature, and they waited, in the most
dreadful suspense, for the next hazard, which being likewise taken with
infinite ease by the soldier, the blood forsook their cheeks, and the
interjection "Zounds!" pronounced with a look of consternation, and in a
tone of despair, proceeded from every mouth at the same instant of
time. They were overwhelmed with horror and astonishment at seeing
three hazards taken in as many strokes, from a person of their
friend's dexterity; and shrewdly suspected, that the whole was a scheme
preconcerted for their destruction. On this supposition, they changed
the note, and attempted to hedge for their own indemnification, by
proposing to lay the odds in favour of Gauntlet; but so much was the
opinion of the company altered by that young gentleman's success,
that no one would venture to espouse the cause of his competitor, who,
chancing to improve his game by the addition of another lucky hit,
diminished the concern, and revived the hopes of his adherents.

But this gleam of fortune did not long continue. Godfrey collected
his whole art and capacity, and, augmenting his score to number ten,
indulged himself with a view of the whole fraternity. The visages of
these professors had adopted different shades of complexion at every
hazard he had taken: from their natural colour they had shifted into
a sallow hue; from thence into pale; from pale into yellow, which
degenerated into a mahogany tint; and now they saw seventeen hundred
pounds of their stock depending upon a single stroke, they stood like so
many swarthy Moors, jaundiced with terror and vexation. The fire which
naturally glowed in the cheeks and nose of the player, seemed utterly
extinct, and his carbuncles exhibited a livid appearance, as if a
gangrene had already made some progress in his face; his hand began to
shake, and his whole frame was seized with such trepidation, that he
was fain to swallow a bumper of brandy, in order to re-establish the
tranquility of his nerves. This expedient, however, did not produce
the desired effect; for he aimed the ball at the lead with such
discomposure, that it struck on the wrong side, and came off at an
angle which directed it full in the middle hole. This fatal accident was
attended with a universal groan, as if the whole universe had gone to
wreck; and notwithstanding that tranquility for which adventurers are so
remarkable, this loss made such an impression upon them all, that each
in part