Ulrica fancied the last dozen, and I placed five louis upon it, winning a third time. Having won eight hundred francs in three turns of the wheel, I began to think roulette was not such wearying fun as I had once believed it to be.
I wanted to continue playing, but the others prevented me. They knew too well that the bank at Monte Carlo only lends its money to the players. With Reggie at my side I went out, strolled through those beautiful gardens beside the sea, watched the pigeon-shooting, and afterwards sat on the terrace of the Café de Paris, where to the full I enjoyed a sunset of extraordinary radiance.
CHAPTER III
IS A MYSTERY
I was left alone with Reggie, for Ulrica had taken Gerald into the orchestral concert.
"What awfully good luck you had!" he observed, after we had been chatting some time. "If you'd had the maximum on each time, you'd have won over seven hundred pounds."
"There are a good many 'ifs' in gambling," I remarked. "I've never had any luck before in gambles at bazaars and such-like places."
"When you do have luck, follow it, is my motto," he laughed. "I should have advised you to continue playing to-day, only I thought it might annoy Ulrica," and he raised his whisky and seltzer to his lips.
"But I might have lost all I won," I remarked. "No, I prefer to keep it. I'd like to be unique among other people and go away with some of the bank's money, I intend to keep what I have, and not to play again."
"Never?"