erienced heart-breaking fears
that a catastrophe had taken place.

When the School assembled at half-past eight, the monitors came in,
followed by the Head Master in cap and gown. Then, a moment later, the
School Custos entered with Scaife. They sat down upon a small bench
near the door. Immediately the whispers, the shuffling of feet, the
occasional cough, died down into a thrilling silence. The Head Master
stood up.

He was a man of singularly impressive face and figure. And his voice
had what may be described as an edge to it--the cutting quality so
invaluable to any speaker who desires to make a deep impression upon
his audience. He began his address in the clear, cold accents of one
who sets forth facts which can neither be controverted nor ignored.
Slowly, inexorably, without wasting a word or a second, he told the
School what had happened. Then he paused.

As his voice melted away, the boys moved restlessly. Upon their faces
shone a curious excitement and relief. Gambling in its many-headed
forms is too deeply rooted in human hearts to awaken any great
antipathy. So far, then, the sympathy of the audience lay with the
culprits; this the Head Master knew.

When he spoke again, his voice had changed, subtly, but unmistakably.

"You were afraid," he said, "that I had something worse--ah, yes,
unspeakably worse--to tell you. Thank God, this is not one of those
cases from which every clean, manly boy must recoil in disgust. But,
on that account, don't blind yourselves to the issues involved. This
playing of bridge--a game you have seen your own people playing night
after night, perhaps--is harmless enough in itself. I can say more--it
is a game, and hence its fascination, which calls into use some of the
finest qualities of the brain: judgment, memory, the faculty of making
correct deductions, foresight, and patience. It teaches restraint; it
makes for pleasant fellowship. It does all this and more, provided
that it never degenerates into gambling. The very moment that the game
becomes a gamble, if any one of the players is likely to lose a sum
greater than he can reasonably afford to pay, greater than he would
cheerfully spend upon any other form of entertainment, then bridge
becomes cursed. And because you boys have not the experience to
determine the difference between a mere game and a gamble, card-playing
is forbidden you, and rightly so. Now, let us consider what has
happened. A stupid