he came. He confirmed Timothy's report, and I was
so overjoyed, that I sat late at dinner, drinking very freely, and when
he again proposed that we should go to the _rouge et noir_ table, I did
not refuse--on the contrary, flushed with wine, I was anxious to go, and
took all the money that I had with me. On our arrival Atkinson played,
but finding that he was not fortunate, he very soon left off. As I had
followed his game, I also had lost considerably, and he entreated me not
to play any more--but I was a gamester it appeared, and I would not pay
attention to him, and did not quit the table until I had lost every
shilling in my pocket. I left the house in no very good humour, and
Atkinson, who had waited for me, accompanied me home.

"Newland," said he, "I don't know what you may think of me--you may have
heard that I'm a _roue_, &c. &c. &c., but this I always do, which is,
caution those who are gamesters from their hearts. I have watched you
to-night, and I tell you, that you will be ruined if you continue to
frequent that table. You have no command over yourself. I do not know
what your means may be, but this I do know, that if you were a Croesus,
you would be a beggar. I cared nothing for you while you were the Mr
Newland, the admired, and leader of the fashion, but I felt for you when
I heard that you were scouted from society, merely because it was found
out that you were not so rich as you were supposed to be. I had a
fellow-feeling, as I told you. I did not make your acquaintance to win
your money--I can win as much as I wish from the scoundrels who keep the
tables, or from those who would not scruple to plunder others; and I now
entreat you not to return to that place--and am sorry, very sorry, that
ever I took you there. To me, the excitement is nothing--to you, it is
overpowering. You are a gamester, or rather, you have it in your
disposition. Take, therefore, the advice of a friend, if I may so call
myself, and do not go there again. I hope you are not seriously
inconvenienced by what you have lost to-night."

"Not the least," replied I. "It was ready money. I thank you for your
advice, and will follow it. I have been a fool to-night, and one folly
is sufficient."

Atkinson then left me. I had lost about two hundred and fifty pounds,
which included my winnings of the night before. I was annoyed at it,
but I thought of Harcourt's safety, and felt indifferent. The reader
may recollect, that I had three thou