"What, back again so soon?"
"Yes," said I, somewhat taken aback by her coldness, "if you will give me another chance."
"I give nothing, least of all chance," she replied.
"Well, can you tell me if this is worth anything?"
As I said this I held out the clasp, which flashed brightly as it caught the rays of the large candelabrum overhead. She turned her eyes upon it, and as she did so, for the first time I fancied I caught a gleam of interest within them. It was but a gleam, however, and died out instantly as she said--
"Let me look at it."
I handed it to her. She bent over it for a moment, then turned to me and asked--
"Is this all of it? I mean that it seems only one half of a clasp.
Have you not the other part?"
I shook my head, and she continued--
"It is beautifully worked, and seems valuable. Do you wish me to buy it?"
"Not exactly that," I explained; "but if you think it worth anything I should like to stake it against an equivalent."
"Very well; it might be worth three pounds--perhaps more: but you can stake it for that if you will. Shall it be all at once?"
"Yes, let me have it over at once," I said, and placed it on the red square marked 13.
She nodded, and bending over the table, set the pointer on its round.
This time I felt quite calm and cool. All the intoxication of play had gone from me and left my nerves steady as iron. As the needle swung round I scarcely looked at it, but fell to watching the faces of my fellow-gamblers with idle interest. This stake would decide between life and death for me, but I did not feel it. My pa.s.sion had fallen upon an anti-climax, and I was even yawning when the murmur of many voices, and a small pile of gold and silver at my side, announced that I had won.
"So the luck was changed at last," said the woman. "Be brave whilst it is with you."
In answer I again placed the clasp upon the number 13.
Once more I won, and this time heavily. Tom laid his hand upon my shoulder and said, "Let us go," but I shook my head and went on.
Time after time I won now, until the pile beside me became immense.
Again and again Tom whispered in my ear that we had won enough and that luck would change shortly, but I held on. And now the others surrounded me in a small crowd and began to stake on the numbers I chose. Put the clasp where I would the needle stopped in front of it. They brought a magnet to see if this curious piece of metal had any power of attraction, but our hostess only laughed and a.s.sured them at any rate there was no steel in the pointer, as (she added) some of them ought to know by this time. When eight times I had put the buckle down and eight times had found a fresh heap of coin at my side, she turned to me and said--
"You play bravely, young man. What is your name?"
"Jasper Trenoweth."
Again I fancied I caught the gleam in her eyes; and this time it even seemed as though her teeth shut tight as she heard the words.
But she simply laughed a tranquil laugh and said--
"A queer-sounding name, that Trenoweth. Is it a lucky one?"
"Never, until now," said I.
"Well, play on. It does my heart good, this fight between us.
But you are careful, I see; why don"t you stake your pile as well while this wonderful run lasts?"
Again Tom"s hand was laid upon my shoulder, and this time his voice was urgent. But I was completely deaf.
"As you please," said I, coldly, and laid the whole pile down upon the black.
It was madness. It was worse than madness. But I won again; and now the heap of my winnings was enormous. I glanced at the strange woman; she sat as impa.s.sive as ever.
"Play," said she.
Thrice more I won, and now the pile beside her had to be replenished.
Yet she moved not a muscle of her face, not a lash of her mysterious eyes.
At last, sick of success, I turned and said--
"I have had enough of this. Will it satisfy you if I stake it all once more?"
Again she laughed. "You are brave, Mr. Trenoweth, and indeed worth the fighting. You may win to-night, but I shall win in the end.
I told you that I would readily lose to you, and so I will; but you take me at my word with a vengeance. Still, I should like to possess that clasp of yours, so let it be once more."
I laid the whole of my winnings on the red. By this time all the guests had gathered round to see the issue of this conflict. Not a soul put any money on this turn of the wheel, so engrossed were they in the duel. Every face was white with excitement, every lip quivered. Only we, the combatants, sat unmoved--I and the strange woman with the unfathomable eyes.
"Red stands for many things," said she, as she lightly twirled the needle round, "blood and rubies and lovers" lips. But black is the livery of Death, and Death shall win them all in the end."
As the pointer of fortune circled on its last errand, I could catch the stifled breath of the crowd about me, so deep was the hush that fell upon us all. I felt Tom"s hand tighten its clutch upon my shoulder. I heard, or fancied I heard, the heart of the man upon my right thump against his ribs. I could feel my own pulse beating all the while with steady and regular stroke. Somehow I knew that I should win, and somehow it flashed upon me that she knew it too.
Even as the idea came darting across my brain, a mult.i.tude of pent-up cries broke forth from thirty pairs of white lips. I scarcely looked to see the cause, but as I turned to our hostess her eyes looked straight into mine and her sweet voice rose above the din--
"Gentlemen, we have played enough to-night. The game is over."
I had broken the bank.
I stood with Tom gathering up my winnings as the crowd slowly melted from the room, and as I did so, cast a glance at the woman whom I had thus defeated. She was leaning back in her chair, apparently indifferent to her losses as to her gains. Only her eyes were steadily fixed upon me as I shovelled the coin into my pockets.
As she caught my eye she pulled out a sc.r.a.p of paper and a pencil, scribbled a few words, tossed the note to the man with the shovel, who instantly left the room, and said--
"Is it far from this place to your home?"
"Not very."
"That"s well; but be careful. To win such a sum is only less dangerous than to lose it. I shall see you again--you and your talisman. By the way, may I look at it for a moment?"
We were alone in the room, we three. She took the clasp, looked at it intently for a full minute, and then returned it. Already the dawn of another day was peering in through the c.h.i.n.ks in the blinds, giving a ghastly faintness to the expiring candles, throwing a grey and sickening reality over the scene--the disordered chairs, the floor strewn with sc.r.a.ps of paper, the signs and relics of the debauchery of play. Ghastlier than all was the yellow face of the woman in the pitiless light. But there she sat, seemingly untired, in all the splendour of her flashing gems, as we left her--a very G.o.ddess of the gaming-table.
We had reached the door and were stepping into the darkness of the outer pa.s.sage, when Tom whispered--
"Be on your guard; that note meant mischief."