ost, on the
green cloth of the table before her.

"Oh yes, no doubt a few may make money at this game! But I have just been
arranging, with the aid of the owner of the Pension where I am going to
stay when I come here, to join the Club."

And then, realising that Sylvia did not understand, she went on.

"You see, my dear child, there are two kinds of play here--as there are,
indeed, at almost every Casino in France. There is _this_ game, which is,
as I say, a child's game--a game at which you can make or lose a few
francs; and then there is Baccarat!"

She waited a moment.

"Yes?" said Sylvia questioningly.

"Baccarat is played here in what they call the Club, in another part of
the building. As there is an entrance fee to the Club, there is never
such a crowd in the Baccarat Room as there is here. And those who belong
to the Club 'mean business,' as they say in your dear country. They come,
that is, to play in the way that I understand and that I enjoy play!"

A little colour rose to Anna Wolsky's sallow cheeks; she looked
exhilarated, excited at the thoughts and memories her words conjured up.

Sylvia also felt curiously excited. She found the scene strangely
fascinating--the scene presented by this crowd of eager men and women,
each and all absorbed in this mysterious game which looked anything
but a child's game, though Anna had called it so.

But as they were trying to make their way through the now dense crowd of
people, the middle-aged man who had been with Anna when Sylvia had first
seen her just now hurried up to them.

"Everything is arranged, Madame!" he exclaimed. "Here is your membership
card. May I have the pleasure of taking you myself to the Club? Your
friend can come too. She does not want to play, does she?"

He looked inquisitively at Sylvia, and his hard face softened. He had
your true Frenchman's pleasure in charm and beauty. "Madame, or is it
Mademoiselle?--"

"Madame!" answered Anna, smiling.

"--Madame can certainly come in and look on for a few moments, even
though she be not a member of the Club."

They turned and followed him up a broad, shallow staircase, into a part
of the Casino where the very atmosphere seemed different from that
surrounding the public gaming tables.

Here, in the Club, all was hushed and quiet, and underfoot was a thick
carpet.

There were very few people in the Baccarat Room, some twelve men, and
four or five ladies who were broken up into groups, and