His superstitious companions had not forgotten the broken glass, and had heard of his subsequent calamities.  With them the lucky alone were the adorable!  The gods of the temples of fortunes are easily and quickly dethroned and the worshipers had already prostrated themselves before other shrines.

The coldness of his greeting sent a chill to his already benumbed heart and increased his desperation.  He was nervous, excited, depressed, and feeling the need of something to distract his thought from his troubles, he sat down and began to play; but from the first deal he lost—­lost steadily and heavily.

The habitues of the place exchanged significant glances as much as to say, “I told you so!”

Whispered phrases passed from lip to lip.

“He is playing wild.”

“He has lost his nerve.”

“His luck has turned.”

And so indeed it had!  Within a few short hours he had staked his entire fortune and lost it.  It had gone as easily and as quickly as it had come.

“I guess that is about all,” he said, pushing himself wearily back from the table at which he had just parted with the title to his desolated home.

“Shall I stake you, Davy?” asked one of his friends, touched by the pathos of the haggard face and hopeless voice.

“No,” he answered, rising.  “I have played enough.  I am going away.  Good-bye, boys.”

Without another word, he left them and passed out of the door.

“Good-bye,” they cried, as he vanished, scarcely raising their eyes from the tables.

Even in a crowd like that there will generally be found some heart which still retains its tenderness.  The young man who had offered to stake him, followed the ruined gambler into the street.

“Where are you going, old man?” he said kindly, slipping his hand through David’s arm.

“I don’t know,” he answered absently.

“Are you dead broke, Davy?”

“Dead broke,” in a lifeless echo.

“Will you accept a little loan?  You can’t go far without money.”

“It’s no use.”

“Take it!  I wouldn’t have had it if it hadn’t been for you, and I won’t have it long whether you take it or not.”

As he spoke he slipped a roll of bills into his friend’s pocket.

“Thanks!” said David.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied.

“Good-bye.”

“Good-bye.”

The sun was just rising as they parted.  The first faint stir of life was perceptible in the city streets; the green-grocers were coming in with their fresh vegetables; the office boys were opening the doors and putting away the shutters; there was a bright, morning look on the faces which peered into the haggard countenance of the gambler as he crept aimlessly along, but the fresh, sweet light gave him neither brightness nor joy.  His heart was cold and dead; he had not even formed a purpose.

And so he drifted aimlessly until the current that was setting toward the levee caught him and bore him on with it.  The sight of a vessel just putting out to sea communicated to his spirit its first definite impulse and he ascended the gang-plank without even inquiring its destination.