We stood watching him in silent wonder. The luck of the man with whom I had been flirting was simply marvellous. Sometimes he distributed his stakes on the colour, the dozens and the "pair," and thus often won in several places at the same time. The eager, grabbing crowd surged round the table and the excitement quickly rose to fever heat. The assault Reggie was making upon the bank was certainly a formidable one. His inner pockets bulged with the mass of notes he had crammed there, and the outer pockets of his jacket were heavy with golden louis.
Ulrica stood behind him, but uttered no word. To speak to a person while playing is believed by the gambler at Monte Carlo to bring evil fortune.
When he could cram no more notes into his pockets, he passed them to Ulrica, who held them in an overflow bundle in her hand.
He tossed a thousand francs on the red, but lost, together with the dozens of others who had followed his play.
He played again, with no better result.
A third time he played on the red, which had not been up for nine times in succession, a most unusual run.
Black won.
"I've finished," he said, turning to us with a laugh. "Let's get out of this—my luck has changed."
"Marvellous!" cried Ulrica. "Why, you must have won quite a fortune!"
"We'll go across to the Café and count it," he said, and we all walked out together; and while sitting at one of the tables we helped him to count the piles of gold and notes.