"Really, you play a strong game. Suppose—just for the excitement of it—we stake a dollar on the next game. What do you say?"
"All right!"
Edgar had received his week's pay in the afternoon, and was well provided. He flattered himself he could play better than Schuyler, and thought it would be very agreeable to win money in that way. Schuyler managed to let him win.
"Really," he said with pretended annoyance, "I am afraid you are more than a match for me."
"Perhaps I was lucky," said Edgar, elated.
"At any rate I will try again. Let us call it two dollars."
"Very well," assented Edgar.
Somehow this game was won by his opponent by five points. Edgar was annoyed, for this took a dollar from his pocket, and it had been arranged that the loser should pay for the use of the tables.
It was an accident, however, and he kept on. At the close of the evening he was without a cent.
"I have been unlucky," he said, trying to hide his mortification. "I have lost all the money I had with me."