Evening star., 1922-04-07

sou ID his classics 1t the university. U Con
sica,iy inpresnable. being snarded BY
steel dosr shsee inches tSlsaA tSsaA.s The cfsS sSS
f! teils o'Ccdser that he viii get him past
: fhe door that night. Then, disguised as
FfenchpnAn. he goes with Jsmeson 70 =
through 4 friend Of Jameson's. they gain
admittahee 10 the club.
TINE room into which We en-
tered was indeed absolutely
windewless 1t was room
Built within the original room
of the eld house. Thus the WINDOWS
overlooking the street from the sec
6nd floor In reality bore no, relation
to it. For light it depended on COM
plete oval OF lights overhead so ar
ranged as to be themselves Invisible.
but shining through richly stained
glass ana conveying the illusion of q
slightly clouded MONDAY. The abb
sence Of windows was made up for, as
1 learned later, By a tentilating de-
vice so perfect that, although every
one was smoking, a most fastidious
person could scarcely have been Of
Tended by the odor of tobacco.
OF course. I did not notice all this at
first. What 1 did notice, however, was
a faro layout and a hazard board, but
as no one was playing at either my
eye quickly travelled to roulette ta-
BILE which stretched along the middle
of the room. Some ten or dozen men
in evening clothes were gathered
watching with intent faces the spin
ming wheel. There was no money ON
the table. nothing but piles of chips
N a
thing that surprised me as I looked
was that the tense look on the faces
of the players was anything but the
feTerish. haggard gaze ! had expect
fed. typical, prosperous New Workers
rather inclined to the noticeable In
dress and carrying their avoirdupois
as if life was an easy game with
them. Most Of them evidently be-
lonsed to the financial and society
classes. There were no tragedies: the
tragedies were elsewhere-in their
offices, homes or the courts, any
where. but not here at the club. Here
all was life. light and laughter.
For the benefit Of those not ac-
and may as we'll confess that most
of my knowledge was gained in that
ono crowded evening" may say that
it consists. briefly. Of a wooden disk
table like a circular washbasin. with
an outer rim turned slightly inward.
The ''croupier' reviyes the wheel to
the right. With a quick motion of
usually Of ivory, to the left. At the
Nesper Club, always up-to- date. the
ball was of platinum, not OF ivory.
The disk, with its sloping sides. is
some perpendicular. some horizontal.
As the ball and the wheel lose mo-
mentum the ball strikes against the
rods and finally is detected into one
OF the many little pockets or stalls
facing the rim Of the wheel.
There are thirty eight Of these
pockets: two are marked 90 and
90" the others numbered from one
to thirty six in an Irregular and con-
tusing order and painted alternately
table are thirty-six largo squares
correspondingly numbered and COL
ored. The 90 and 100" are Of a neu-
trail color. Whenever the ball falls
the stakes or sweeps the board. The
Monte Carlo wheel has only one "O."
while the typical American has two
ana the Chinese has four.
To one like myself who had read
Of the continental gambling houses
table, and the croupier with his
wooden rake noisily raking in the
winnings Of the bank. the compare
tive silence of the American game
comes as a surprise.
AS we advanced we heard only the
rattle Of the ball. the click OF the
chips and the monotonous tone of
the spinner: "Twenty-three. black.
Eight. red. Seventeen, black 1t
was almost like the boys in a brokers'
office calling Off the quotations Of the
ticker and marking them up on the
board.
Leaning forward. almost oblivious
to the rest, was Perciva1 DeLong. q
whose boyish face i'll comported with
the marks Of dissipation clearly out
lined on 1t. Such a boy. it flashed
across my mind, ought to be study.
ing the possible plays Of foot ball OF
an an evening in the fieidhouse lih;S .ah5s after
rather than the possible gyrations OF
the little platinum ball on the wheel
Curse the luck!" he exclaimed, as
az" appeared again.
chips on the at" to come up q third
time. A murmur of applause at hi
nerve ran through the circle. De-
Long hesitated, as one who thought.
Seventeen has come out twlce-the
odds against its coming again are
would be fabulous for a good stake.
He placed his next bet on another
number.
Hes playing Lord Rosslyn's sys-
The wheel spun. the ball rolled, and
the croupier called again, Seventeen
black" A tremor Of excitement ran
through the crowd. 1t was almost
unprecedented.
DeLonE, with q stifed oath, leaned
hack and scanned the faces about the
And .17' has precisely the same
chance Of turning up in the next spin
az If it had not already had a run OF
three" said q voice At my elbow.
1t was Kennedy. The roulette tanis
sequences are afoot. All are friends
That's tho story Of Sir Hiram Max
i'm" commented my friend, as he ex-
cused himself reluctantly for another
appointment. But no true gambler
viii believe it. monsieur or at ieas'
All eyes were turned on Kennedy
who made a gesture Of polite depre.
cation, as If the remark of my friend
were true. but-he nonchalantly
placed his s. chips ,fn,t on tn: ~ r. ann.arins
four Consecutive times are some mill
lions" he went on. and yet, having
appeared three times, it 10 Just a.
likely to appear again as oeiole'
1t is the usual practice to avoid 9
number that has had = run. on tne
more iiksiy to come up than it ia
'rhat would be the case Il 1t were
,Arawing balls from . 6aG full OF REQ
and black baIls-the more red onse
drawn the sznsller the enanos .t Q!
4rsyiaS another req J., one: r.. Ivy . !. ,tas sns
being drawn the chances Of drawing
=. - one altar three have been drawn
are exactly the same a. ever. II We