The Doors of this Saloon are the Gates of Death.”
FAIR WITHOUT, HIDEOUS WITHIN.
The bathers and water-drinkers, sallying forth early, were shocked to see the unfortunate gentleman suspended by the neck, and to read what he had so truthfully written. The Direction, indignant at what they considered a breach of etiquette, lost no time in removing the corpse, which furnished such a sad commentary on their perfidious entertainment. Before breakfast everybody knew of the tragedy, and it had such an effect upon the patrons of the bank that the tables, for two or three days, were very thinly attended. The Direction felt sorely troubled respecting the unpleasant circumstance, as they termed it, and industriously circulated the report that there was no truth in the story of the Hungarian suicide; that he had really left for Basle the day previous to his reported self-destruction; that the figure found hanging was merely an effigy placed there by some mischievous jesters, against whom legal proceedings would be begun forthwith. Strangely enough, this invention was believed. The players returned in full force, and the warning of the Hungarian was lost, as a thousand other warnings have been lost before.
If the private history of the four gaming places could be learned, with all the evils resulting from them, the record would be ghastly and hideous indeed. It is only now and then that an intimation of the great injury they do comes to the surface; and if any considerable part of it were known, the springs would be avoided like lazar-houses. A stoical pride is generally practised by the habitués who have suffered financially; and I have observed many men, and not a few women, turn away from the tables with a forced smile, when I knew that they were undergoing excruciating torture.
Losing money which one cannot afford to lose brings with it a train of social, mental, and moral ills that cannot be fully estimated. Could a thousandth part of the woes wrought by the demon of chance be depicted on those frescoed and gilded walls, they would equal the torments ascribed by gloomy priests to the doomed and damned in the fiery pit.
The outside of the temples of fortune is dazzlingly attractive; but, passing beyond the portals, and lifting the purple veil, such anguish and agony are apparent as may well appall the stoutest heart.
Some men are so methodical and cool-blooded that they are proof against the seductions of roulette and rouge-et-noir. They can make up their mind beforehand as to how much they will lose, and never risk another florin. These, however, are exceptions to human nature, and no ordinary mortal can hope to imitate them with any prospect of success.
A CALM-BLOODED BANKER.
A sturdy Dutch banker from Amsterdam is in the habit of visiting one of the spas every season, and always bets within a certain limit. Four thousand florins is the sum he feels able to lose annually, and this being gone, nothing prompts him to risk any more. Sometimes he loses this in a few days, sometimes not for weeks, sometimes not at all. Whatever he may gain does not count, as he feels privileged to do as he chooses with his winnings, but having parted at the tables with four thousand florins less than he had on his arrival, he is bidden in vain to make his game. He told me once that he fancied he was a good deal ahead of the tables, but having made an exact calculation, he found that in ten years all he had won was fifteen florins.
The croupiers are a singular class. Nearly all of them have, some time or other, belonged to the galerie, and, as may be imagined from their position, have wrecked themselves on the uncertain sea of hazard.