s to be
thought of." And, so saying, he lay down on the sofa to ruminate.

CHAPTER XV. AT THE GAMING TABLE.

"Not half so skilled in means and ways,
The 'hungry Greek' of classic days
His cards with far less cunning plays
Than eke our modern sharper!"

When Linton had determined within himself to make Cashel "his own," his
first care was to withdraw him from the daily society of the Kennyfecks,
by whose familiar intercourse a great share of influence was already
enjoyed over their young guest. This was not so easy a task as he had
at first imagined. Cashel had tasted of the pleasant fascination of
easy intimacy with two young and pretty girls, eagerly bent on being
agreeable to him. He was in all the full enjoyment of that rare union,
the pleasure of being at home and yet an honored guest; and it was only
when Linton suggested that late hours and irregular habits were but
little in accordance with the decorous propriety of a family, that
Cashel yielded, and consented to remove his residence to a great
furnished house in "Stephen's Green," where some bygone Chancellor once
held his state.

Linton well knew that if "Necessity" be the mother of invention,
"Propinquity" is the father of love; that there is nothing so suggestive
of the tender passion as that lackadaisical state to which lounging at
home contributes, and the chance meetings with a pretty girl. The little
intercourse on the stairs going down to breakfast, the dalliance in the
conservatory, the chit-chat before dinner, are far more formidable than
all the formal meetings under the blaze of wax-lights, and amid the
crush of white satin.

"If I leave him much longer among them," said he to himself, "he 'll
marry one of these girls; and then adieu to all influence over him!
No more ecarte,--no more indiscriminate purchases of everything I
propose,--no more giving 'the odds against the field.' A wife and
a wife's family are heavy recognizances against a bachelor friend's
counsels."

Cashel was really sorry to leave the house where his time had passed
so pleasantly. The very alternation of his interest regarding the two
sisters had kept his mind in a state of pleasant incertitude, now
seeing something to prefer in this, now in that, while at the same time
suggesting on their part greater efforts to please and amuse him. If Mr.
Kennyfeck deemed Cashel's removal a very natural step, and one which
his position in some sort demanded, n