croaking," he said, impatiently. "'Pon my
word, I don't understand. Come away
with me to the other table."

"Indeed I will not," said Constance.
"You can do so if you like, and Kate
also; but we shall go on winning
together."

The next time she lost. "Go on
winning" repeated she.

"Don't be alarmed," I said; "we shall
just lie by a little until it goes into shape
again."

So we did, and the next time we did
win. It was certainly wonderful. At the
end of twenty minutes she had fifteen
double florins in her small hand—those
fine handsome pieces, which it is a satisfaction
to feel. Mr. D'Eyncourt "was out"
a good many napoleons, and the other
girl's disconsolate face showed how
mortified and disappointed she was. They are
to go away home in a few days later, and I
am never likely to meet them again; but
I have no doubt the first shades of jealousy
and coldness that have ever darkened their
young lives have been caused by this fatal
night. As for Mr. D'Eyncourt, he cannot
be a gentleman, and if he gives me any
more of his remarks I shall speak quite
plainly to him.

Midnight.— What have I done! There,
I have entered my room, and there on the
table have I—O humiliation that I should
write it!—poured down twenty of those
heavy silver pieces! I am bewildered—
they seem to dazzle me. Again what have
I done? Where are my resolutions?
shame! shame! All my boastings, my
pride, my contempt for this wickedness;
and then to have given way like the rest:
after the prayer that I had said so devoutly!
I tremble as I look at those pieces, and feel
a sort of flutter at my heart—I ought to
detest, and yet they seem to invite. O
what weak, miserable, helpless creatures
the best of us are! How we swagger and
boast, and how little there is in us! They
seem—if it be not profane to say so—like
the thirty pieces—

I have been walking up and down,
scarcely able to compose myself to go to
bed. There they lie—- so heavy, so solid,
so musical in their tone. "ZWEI GULDEN"
and a great head on the obverse; one a
"LUDWIG," another a "HERZOG V. NASSAU."
And yet, after all, it was no such great
fall; for I saw round me the gentle, the
good, the innocent, the smiling; and as for
the mere putting down a florin, there is
no absolute crime. Where I was culpable
was in the weakness, the abandonment of
what I had proposed so solemnly. And
it has not turned out ill, so there is no
harm done.

When I look back and analyse my state
of mind, then, I can extenuate a good
deal. The crowd round me, their eagerness,
their success in winning, the
enjoyment, the excitement, the absence
of care, the enjoying faces looking into
their hands, the close of a pleasant
day, the general air of festivity—all this
seemed to draw me in, to absorb me, to
impart a sudden thrill. All seemed to say,
"Come and join us, be one of us; you are
losing the chance of money."

For a time I forget everything, resolutions
and all; and if I had only gone
on ———

.... Now, on the other hand, there is
such a thing as making too serious an
affair of what has not sufficient importance.
As I say, there has been no harm
done. This money I shall just seal up, and
send in to Mr. B., the clergyman, for the new
English chapel—or for the poor, I am not
certain which. I ought in all propriety to
contribute to the church, and must have
done so in any case: so query, would not
this be a legitimate advantage to take?
It would set free other money. On the
whole, I rather lean to the cause of the
poor. They shall profit. After all, there
are people who would laugh if I accused
myself of such a crime; and even my pet
at home would smile, and say, "O, I
should have so liked that little money!"
No, no. Indeed, I do her wrong. Indeed,
she would not. And therefore I think I
shall not let her see these leaves. Or I
shall cross out much of it. Now to go to
bed more composed than I was.

Now ready,
THE COMPLETE SET
OF
TWENTY VOLUMES,
With GENERAL INDEX to the entire work from its
commencement in April, 1859. Each volume, with
its own Index, can also be bought separately as
heretofore.
Now ready, ALL THE CHRISTMAS STORIES,
bound together price 5s.; or, separately, price 4d. each.