aring to express his suspicion, only requested the dice should
be changed. They were so. The new ones were not cubes, and they were
uneven in weight. I lost back the greatest part of my winnings; and
I also lost character. It was observed that I threw the casts in a
different manner from that in which I had thrown the first dice.
A suspicion arose among the spectators that I did so on purpose to lose,
and in a few evenings I was stripped of the greater part of my fortune,
for every evening the dice were changed, and sometimes often in the
course of a night. At last I quitted Paris, with the matured character
of a thorough libertine and an unfair gamester.

"I took my passage at Marseilles, for Naples, and at the time appointed
for embarkation, went to the mole to go on board.

"It was evening; the sun had set some time; the beacon of the port was
lighted; and the dawn of the moon was brightening the eastern horizon.
The populace, who were enjoying the cool air, had not however dispersed,
but were standing in numerous groups around. A feeling at the moment
came upon me that the Demon was near, and I resolved if it appeared
again to employ my sword, although at the time persuaded that it was but
a form impalpable. In the same moment I saw it before me; out flew my
sword, and in the instant I felt that it pierced a mortal heart; but
instead of the old visionary-man, I beheld a boatman dead and bleeding
at my feet. A wild cry arose. The mob seized me, and I was carried to
prison. Next day the case was investigated before the court of justice.
I related the simple fact. A glib advocate doubted my asseverations; but
the spectators, who were numerous, gave the fullest credit to the story,
and I was spared the doom of a murderer, because the judges were of
opinion that I could have no motive to commit the crime, and had
perpetrated the deed under some influence of temporary lunacy.

"That was the wanton assassination with which all Europe rang at the
time, and was ascribed to the extravagance of my reprobate nature.

"After my liberation, I proceeded to Naples, and mingling in all the
pleasures of that luxurious city, in addition to my dexterity with the
dice, I acquired equal skill at the cards. In the study of them I found
my sight possessed of a faculty not before imagined. The sharpness of
my sight soon enable me to discover at once all the cards of a pack
distinctly from each other, and I speedily was master of every pop