"How so, Frank?"
"Why, my dear fellow, you've no idea how doubling your stake mounts up. To stake a sovereign, and lose ten coups, you must have at least six hundred pounds in hand; for the stakes run one, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, two hundred and fifty-six, five hundred and twelve, and so on."
"Whew!"
"That's it."
"And we stake five hundred pounds to win a sovereign?"
"Just so. Unless you play the martingale strictly, you cannot be certain of winning: but you must win if you play it."
"Ah! well, then I must give up the idea, for I cannot raise the money. Never mind, I'll let chance play for me; martingale or no martingale."
That night they went to the house in Jermyn-street, where Cecil had first played.
Frank won five and forty pounds.
Cecil lost every penny.