“The professor has a record of over two million. The amount of work he has done is colossal. He has studied the numbers in their relation to one another; he has classified, co-ordinated, condensed. His system is one of correspondence and elimination. He has used the resources of mathematics to put it on a working basis. He has gone above and behind all the rest of us. His comprehension is larger; he has grasped the wider workings of the law of average. He has narrowed down and focussed the probability, and reduced the phenomena by the magnitude of his calculations to a minimum. The day of the year and the hour of the day has a bearing on the application of his system. That red note-book of his is full of algebraic formula. By looking at the last dozen numbers that have come up and referring to his formulæ, he has a hint how to play. But even then he is never quite sure. Sometimes he is only within eight numbers, sometimes within four. But that’s good enough. He has been lucky in hitting the precise number one time out of three; but scientifically speaking he considers he ought to strike it only one time out of five.”
“I’ve seen him strike it every day for the last month. He must hae averaged over sixty thoosand francs a day, I’m thinkin’. I expect the members o’ the board are losin’ lots o’ sleep them days. It’s no’ a question of him winnin’, but how much is he goin’ tae win. They’ve got old Bob Bender watchin’ him every time he plays. If it wisna that you were everlastingly doin’ the watch dog some one would get a graup o’ that wee book he’s forever keekin intae. Though I don’t suppose they’d mak’ much o’ it, wi’ a’ thae queer, crabbed letters an’ figures. I’m sure they’d be gled tae gi’ him a year’s profits if he’d stop. Aye, or pay a fortune tae any one that wad stop him. But then he’s got you for a bodyguard.”
“Yes, he never goes out without me.”
“Aye, ye’re a cautious young man. I’m sometimes thinkin’ ye’ve got a touch o’ the Scot in ye. I hope ye’ve no’ been an’ squandert that money ye were sae lucky as tae win?”
“No, the most of it’s in the bank. I won’t touch it for gambling purposes. In fact, I think I’ve finished.”
“I’m wishin’ I wis masel’. I’m sick o’ the place, but I must stay until I mak’ enough to go home no’ lookin’ like a tramp. Ye ken I still believe in ma system.”
“I tell you what,” said Hugh, “why don’t you play with a bigger unit? You play with five franc stakes and you make from four to eight pieces every day. Why not increase your unit to a hundred francs, and then you’ll make from four to eight hundred francs a day.”
“I hav’ nae the capital.”
“Suppose I lend you a thousand francs.”
“I micht lose it.”