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The Gaming Table-Vol.2-Part7_Andrew Steinmetz(1816-1877)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Now, as the ordinary establishment of a GENTEEL gamester, as he

is commonly called, cannot be less than L1000 per annum, luck,



which turns out EQUAL in the long run, will not support him; he

must therefore LIVE by what they call among themselves the BEST



OF THE GAME--or, in plain English, cheating.

So much for the inner and outer life of gamblers. And now I



shall introduce Mr Ben. Disraeli, recounting, in the happiest

vein of his younger days, a magnificent gambling scene, quite on



a par with the legend of the Hindoo epic before quoted,[12] and

which, I doubt not, will (to use the young Disraeli's own words)



make the reader 'scud along and warm up into friskiness.'

[12] Chapter II.



A curious phrase occurs in the 9th chapter of 'The Young Duke,'

in the paragraph at the beginning, after the words--'O ye



immortal gods!'

Although the scene of the drama is part of a novel, yet there can



be no doubt of its being 'founded on fact'--at any rate, I think

there never was a narrative of greater verisimilitude.



'After dinner, with the exception of Cogit, who was busied in

compounding some wonderful liquid for the future refreshment,



they sat down to Ecarte. Without having exchanged a word upon

the subject, there seemed a general understanding among all the



parties, that to-night was to be a pitched battle--and they began

at once, very briskly. Yet, in spite of their universal



determination, midnight arrived without anything very decisive.

Another hour passed over, and then Tom Cogit kept touching the



baron's elbow, and whispering in a voice which everybody could

understand. All this meant that supper was ready. It was



brought into the room.

'Gaming has one advantage--it gives you an appetite; that is to



say, so long as you have a chance remaining. The duke had

thousands,--for at present his resources were unimpaired, and he



was exhausted by the constant attention and anxiety of five

hours. He passed over the delicacies, and went to the side-



table, and began cutting himself some cold roast beef. Tom Cogit

ran up, not to his Grace, but to the baron, to announce the



shocking fact, that the Duke of St James was enduring great

trouble; and then the baron asked his Grace to permit Mr Cogit to



serve him.

'Our hero devoured--we use the word advisedly, as fools say in



the House of Commons--he devoured the roast beef, and rejecting

the hermitage with disgust, asked for porter.



'They set to again, fresh as eagles. At six o'clock, accounts

were so complicated, that they stopped to make up their books.



Each played with his memorandums and pencil at his side. Nothing

fatal had yet happened. The duke owed Lord Dice about L5000, and



Temple Grace owed him as many hundreds. Lord Castlefort also was

his debtor to the tune of 750, and the baron was in his books,



but slightly.

'Every half-hour they had a new pack of cards, and threw the used



ones on the floor. All this time Tom Cogit did nothing but snuff

the candles, stir the fire, bring them a new pack, and



occasionally made a tumbler for them.

'At eight o'clock the duke's situation was worsened. The run was



greatly against him, and perhaps his losses were doubled. He

pulled up again the next hour or two; but, nevertheless, at ten



o'clock owed every one something. No one offered to give over;

and every one, perhaps, felt that his object was not obtained.



They made their toilets, and went down-stairs to breakfast. In

the mean time the shutters were opened, the room aired; and in



less than an hour they were at it again.

'They played till dinner-time without intermission; and though



the duke made some desperate efforts, and some successful ones,

his losses were, nevertheless, trebled. Yet he ate an excellent



dinner, and was not at all depressed; because the more he lost

the more his courage and his resources seemed to expand. At



first, he had limited himself to 10,000; after breakfast, it was

to have been 20,000; then 30,000 was the ultimatum; and now he






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