advent at the Reno House this passion had been dormant;
he knew no one with whom he could play, and every cent of his income now
went for food and lodging. But one day, about six months before his
visit to Geary's office, Vandover saw that the proprietor of the Reno
House had set up a great bagatelle board in a corner of the
reading-room. A group of men, sailors, ranchmen, and fruit venders were
already playing. Vandover approached and watched the game, very
interested in watching the uncertain course of the marble jog-jogging
among the pins. The clear little note of the bell or the dry rattle as
the marble settled quickly into one of the lucky pockets thrilled him
from head to foot; his hands trembled, all at once his whole left side
twitched sharply.

From that day the fate of the rest of Vandover's little money was
decided. In two weeks he had lost twenty dollars at bagatelle, obtaining
the money by selling a portion of his bonds at a certain broker's on
Montgomery Street. As soon as he had begun to gamble again the old
habits of extravagance had come back upon him. From the moment he knew
that he could get all the money he wanted by the mere signing of a
paper, he ceased to be economical, scorning the former niggardliness
that had led him to starve on one day that he might feast the next; now,
he feasted every day. He still kept his room at the Reno House, but
instead of taking his meals by any ticket system, he began to affect the
restaurants of the Spanish quarter, gorging himself with the hot spiced
meals three and four times a day. He quickly abandoned the bagatelle
board for the card-table, gambling furiously with two of the ranchmen.
Almost invariably Vandover lost, and the more he lost the more eager and
reckless he became.

In a little time he had sold every one of his bonds and had gambled away
all but twenty dollars of the money received from the last one sold.
This sum, this twenty dollars, Vandover decided to husband carefully. It
was all that was left between him and starvation. He made up his mind
that he must stop gambling and find something to do. He had long since
abandoned his work at the paint-shop, but at this time he returned there
and asked for his old occupation. They laughed in his face. Was that the
way he thought they did business? Not much; another man had his job, a
much better man and one who was regular, who could be depended on. That
same evening Vandover broke his twenty dollars and