nicled in the records of criminal jurisprudence. All were well
dressed, and, so far as cursory notice could detect, possessed the ease
and bearing of men familiar with the habits of good society. Although
mixing in very distinct circles, here, at least, they met every day on
terms of familiar equality, discussing the politics of the hour and the
events of the world with seeming frankness and candor.

From a small chamber at the back of the cafe, a little tide of loungers
seemed to ebb and flow; while the sharp rattling sound of a dice-box
indicated the nature of the occupation that went forward there. The
small apartment was thronged with spectators of the game; and even
around the door several were standing, content to hear the tidings of a
contest they could not witness.

"To sit upon the Ponte Carraja, and chuck rouleaux of gold into the
Arno, would be to the full as amusing, and not a more costly pastime,"
said a sharp, ringing voice, which, once heard, there was no difficulty
in recognizing as Haggerstone's.

"But Onslow plays well," said another.

"When he's in luck, sir," said the Colonel. "Let him always have the
winning horse to ride, and I don't say he 'll lose the saddle; but
Maraffi would win on a donkey."

"Is he a Russian?" asked one.

"No, sir, he 's worse; he 's a Greek. I know everything about him. His
mother was a Finlander, and the father a Cephalonian. I don't think
Satan himself would ask a better parentage."

"What luck! By Jove! I never saw such luck!" said a voice from within
the door. "Onslow has no chance with him."

"Nor will you, sir, if you persist in expressing your opinion in
English," said Haggerstone. "Maraffi speaks every language, plays every
game, and knows the use of every weapon, from a jereed to a Joe Manton."

"I 'll not test his abilities at any of them," said the other, laughing.

"_Per Baccho!_ there goes something new," said a young Italian, from the
window that looked into the street. "Who's she?"

"_Diantre!_" said the old Duc de Parivaux. "That is something very
exquisite, indeed. She was splashed by that carriage that passed, and I
just saw her foot."

"She's the prima donna from Milan."

"She 's the Cipriani. I know her figure perfectly."

"She 's very like the Princesse de Raoule."

"Taller, and younger."

"And fifty times handsomer. What eyes! By Jove! I wish the drosky would
never move on! She is regularly imprisoned there."

"You are very ungallan