mbled
heavily, recklessly and openly. There was no shame--little concealment
about it. The money was theirs, they argued, and mighty hardly earned,
too. They were cut off from home ties and home amusements; led the life
of dumb beasts in camp; and, when they came to town--ho! for "the
tiger."

Whether these reasons be valid or not, such they were. And really to
the camp-wearied and battle-worn officer, the saloon of the fashionable
Richmond "hell" was a thing of beauty. Its luxurious furniture, soft
lights, obsequious servants and lavish store of such wines and liquors
and cigars as could be had nowhere else in Dixie--these were only part
of the inducement. Excitement did the rest, leaving out utterly the
vulgar one of possible gain, so rarely did that obtain. But in these
faro-banks collected the leading men, resident and alien, of the
Capital. Senators, soldiers and the learned professions sat elbow to
elbow, round the generous table that offered choicest viands money
could procure. In the handsome rooms above they puffed fragrant and
real Havanas, while the latest developments of news, strategy and
policy were discussed; sometimes ably, sometimes flippantly, but always
freshly. Here men who had been riding raids in the mountains of the
West; had lain shut up in the water batteries of the Mississippi; or
had faced the advance of the many "On-to-Richmonds"--met after long
separation. Here the wondering young cadet would look first upon some
noted raider, or some gallant brigadier--cool and invincible amid the
rattle of Minie-balls, as reckless but conquerable amid the rattle of
ivory chips.

So the faro-banks flourished and the gamblers waxed fat like Jeshurun,
the ass, and kicked never so boldly at the conscript man. Nor were they
all of ignoble memory. There is more than one "sport" in the South
to-day, who made warm and real friends of high position from his acts
of real generosity then.

Whatever may be the vices of gamblers as a class, many a soldier-boy
will bear witness to the exception that proves the rule. One of the
"hells" at least was a _home_ for the refugee; and whether the
Maryland soldier came dirty, and hungry and ragged from camp, with
never a "stamp" in his pocket; whether he came wearied and worn, but
"full of greenbacks," from a trip across the lines--the post of honor
at the table, the most cordial welcome and most generous glass of wine
were ever his.

However the holy may be horrified--how