As he was pulling off his greatcoat he whispered to me, "If that man
stays here long, I shall never be able to stand it: his familiarity is
unbearable; there is nothing tires me so much as being obliged to be
civil to that kind of people".

"How is it to be?" said Cumberland, "whoever wins four games out of
seven is the conqueror, wasn't that it?"

"Yes, I believe so," was Oaklands' reply.

"A very sporting match, 'pon my life," observed the Captain; "are the
stakes high?"

"Oh no! a mere nothing: five, or ten pounds, did we say?" inquired
Cumberland.

"Just as you like," replied Oaklands, carelessly.

"Ten pounds, by all means, I should say; five pounds is so shocking
small, don't you think? not worth playing for?" said the Captain.

"Ten let it be then," said Cumberland; and after a few preliminaries
they began playing.

~68~~I did not understand the game sufficiently to be able to give
a detailed account of the various chances of the match, nor would it
probably greatly interest the reader were I to do so. Suffice it, then,
to state, that, as far as I could judge, Oaklands, disgusted by the
vulgar impertinence of the Captain (if Captain he was), thought the
whole thing a bore, and played carelessly. The consequence was, that
Cumberland won the first two games. This put Oaklands upon his mettle,
and he won the third and fourth; the fifth was hardly contested,
Oaklands evidently playing as well as he was able, Cumberland also
taking pains; but it struck me as singular that, in each game, _his_
play seemed to depend upon that of his adversary. When Oaklands first
began Cumberland certainly beat him, but not by many; and, as he became
interested, and his play improved, so in the same ratio did Cumberland's
keep pace with it. Of course, there might be nothing in this; the same
causes that affected the one might influence the other; but the idea
having once occurred to me, I determined to watch the proceedings still
more closely, in order, if possible, to make up my mind on the point.
After a very close contest Oaklands also won the fifth game; in the
sixth he missed a difficult stroke, after which he played carelessly,
apparently intending to reserve his strength for the final struggle, so
that Cumberland won it easily. Each had now won three games, and on the
event of the seventh depended the match. Again did Oaklands, who was
evidently deeply interested, use his utmost skill, and his play, which
certainly w