ays of
light Ensign Darrin saw something glitter in the stranger's hand.

"That fellow has just drawn a revolver!" flashed through Darrin's
mind. "Now, what mischief can he be up to?"

Led onward by some fascination that he did not understand, the young
naval officer followed.

In his excitement and desperation the man did not notice that he was
being followed.

Halting under the heavy foliage of a tree, the stranger glanced down
at the weapon in his hand and shuddered. This foolish young man,
haunting the gambling tables until he had ruined himself, and seeing
nothing now ahead of him in life, was bent upon self-destruction.

Sometimes there are several such suicides at Monte Carlo in a single
week. If unprovided with other means for ending his life, the suicide
sometimes hurls himself over the edge of one of the steep cliffs.

Suicides, of course, have a depressing effect on other players, so
those in authority at the Casino take every means of hushing up these
tragedies as effectively as possible.

"There is really nothing left in life," muttered the young man
huskily, as he stared at the weapon in his hand. He spoke in French,
but Darrin heard and understood him.

Then the desperate one raised the weapon, pointing the muzzle at his
head.

At that instant there was a quick step out of the darkness, and Dave
reached the stranger. The latter, startled, drew back, but not in time
to prevent Darrin's grip of steel from resting on his right wrist.

Wrench! Dave had the pistol in his own hands, at the same time
murmuring:

"You will pardon me, I trust."

Ensign Darrin broke the weapon open at the breach. From the chamber he
removed the cartridges, dropping them into his pocket. With another
swift movement Dave flung the pistol so far that it dropped over the
edge of a cliff.

"You will pardon me, I trust, sir, for throwing your property away in
that fashion," Dave apologized, in the best French he could summon.

"Since it is the very last item of my property that was left to me,
perhaps it can matter but little that I am deprived of it," said the
stranger, smiling wanly. "The cliff is still left to me, however. I
can easily follow the pistol."

"But you are not going to jump over the cliff," Darrin assured him
energetically.

"And why are you so certain of that?" demanded the stranger.

Dave looked keenly at his companion before he replied:

"Because, sir, your face is that of a man--not of a coward