“ Was ist der Teufel! ” he cried, and appended thereto a round dozen of oaths.
“The man is a perfect fool!” exclaimed the Grandmother, waving her hand. “Move on now, for I am simply famished. When we have lunched we will return to that place.”
“What?” cried I. “You are going to play again ?”
“What else do you suppose?” she retorted. “Are you going only to sit here, and grow sour, and let me look at you?”
“Madame,” said De Griers confidentially, “ les chances peuvent tourner. Une seule mauvaise chance, et vous perdrez tout—surtout avec votre jeu. C’était terrible! ”
“ Oui; vous perdrez absolument ,” put in Mlle. Blanche.
“What has that got to do with you ?” retorted the old lady. “It is not your money that I am going to lose; it is my own. And where is that Mr. Astley of yours?” she added to myself.
“He stayed behind in the Casino.”
“What a pity! He is such a nice sort of man!”
Arriving home, and meeting the landlord on the staircase, the