"There may be work even for the Hussars before long. There certainly will be for the Engineers. You're all looking forward to it, I suppose?"
"Very much so, sir. You think there's no doubt about it?"
"None, I fear, my boy. It will bring loss to many, gain to a few, but the gain rarely equals the loss. Do you play?" he asked abruptly.
"Very little. It's all quite new to me. I've hardly found my feet yet."
"This kind of thing," he said, flipping the bank-notes, "is all very well if you can afford it. Take my advice and keep clear of it."
Jim laughed, as much as to say, "Your example and your good fortune belie your words, sir."
"I can afford it, you see," said Lord Deseret, in reply to the boy's unspoken thought. "When you are as old as I am, and if you have wasted your life as I have," he said impressively, "you may come to play as the only excitement left to you. But I hope you will have more sense and make better use of your time. Will you come and see me?"
"I would very much like to, sir, if I may."
"You are occupied in the mornings, of course." And he pulled out a gold pencil-case and scribbled an address on the back of the outermost bank-note, and handed it to Jim. "Any afternoon about five, you will find me at home."
"But----" stammered Jim, much embarrassed by the bank-note.