e been made without your good will. It
is to be presumed, therefore, that if I can convince you that it is
better to turn the Emperor's mind in another direction, you will
refuse to make yourself the medium of further communications of that
precise character."

M. Auguste gave me an intelligent glance.

"I am as you have just said, a _medium_," he replied with significant
emphasis. "As such, I need not tell you, I have no personal interest
in the communications which are made through me."

I nodded, and took out my pocket-book, from which I extracted a
hundred ruble-note (about $75).

"I promised to show you something interesting," I remarked, as I laid
it on the table.

M. Auguste turned his head, and his lip curled slightly.

"I am afraid my sight is not very good," he said negligently. "Is not
that object rather small?"

"It is merely a specimen," I responded, counting out nine others, and
laying them beside the first.

"Ah, now I fancy I can see what you are showing me," he admitted.

"There is a history attached to these notes," I explained. "They
represent the amount of a bet which I have just won."

"Really! That is most interesting."

"I now have another bet of similar nature pending, which I hope also
to be able to win."

"I am tempted to wish you success," put in the medium encouragingly.

"The chances of success are so great that if you were a betting man I
should be inclined to ask you to make a joint affair of it," I said.

"My dear M. V----, I am not a bigot. I have no objection to a wager
provided the stakes are made worth my while."

"I think they should be. Well, I will tell you plainly, I stand to
win this amount if the Baltic Fleet does not sail for another month."

M. Auguste smiled pleasantly.

"I congratulate you," he said. "From what I have heard the repairs
will take at least that time."

"But that is not all. This bet of mine is continuous. I win a similar
stake for every month which passes without the fleet having left
harbor."

M. Auguste gazed at me steadily before speaking.

"If your bet were renewable weekly instead of monthly, you might
become quite a rich man."

I saw that I was dealing with a cormorant. I made a hasty mental
calculation. Half of one thousand rubles was about $375 a week, and
the information I had led me to believe that Port Arthur was capable
of holding out for another six months at least. To delay the sailing
of the Baltic Fleet till then wou