us find Monte Carlo
delightful?" she pressed him.

"Not all Europeans frequent Monte Carlo," Dalzell answered.

"May I ask my new American friend why _he_ should waste his time
here?" laughed the Countess.

"I do not believe I have exactly wasted my time," Dan replied. "A
naval officer, or any other American, may well spend some of his time
here in gaining a better knowledge of human nature. Surely, there is
much of human nature to be seen here, even though it be not one of the
better sides."

"What is the bad trait, or the vice, that one beholds most at Monte
Carlo?" the Countess asked.

"Greed," Dan rejoined promptly.

"And dishonesty?"

"Much of that vice, no doubt," Dan continued. "To-night there must be
many a man here who is throwing away money that his family needs, yet
he will never tell his wife that he lost his money over a table at
Monte Carlo. Again, there must be many a woman here throwing away
money in large sums, and she, very likely, will never tell her husband
the truth. Let us say that, in both sexes, there are a hundred persons
here to-night who will be dishonest toward their life partners
afterward. And then, perhaps, many a young bachelor, who, betrothed to
some good woman, is learning his first lessons in greed and deceit.
And some young girls, too, who are perhaps learning the wrong lessons
in life. I know of one very young man here who tried to blow out his
brains to-night. For the sake of a few hours, or perhaps a few weeks,
over the gaming tables of Monte Carlo, he had thrown away everything
that made life worth living. Any man who gambles bids good-by to the
finer things of life."

Dan's slow, halting French made the Countess listen very attentively,
that she might understand just what he said. She puckered her brow
thoughtfully, then suddenly glanced up, laughing with all the witchery
at her command.

"Then, my dear American," she said insinuatingly, "I fear that you are
going to refuse me a very great favor."

"I hope not," Dan replied, gallantly.

"There is," pursued the Countess, "such a thing as luck. Often a
prophecy of that luck is to be seen in one's face. I see such luck
written in your face now. Since you will not play for yourself, I had
hoped that you would be willing to let me have the benefit of a little
of the luck that is so plainly written on your face. I had hoped, up
to this instant, that you would consent to play as my proxy."

The Countess was looking at