“‘I am bound to get back what I have lost, or we cannot have Rose Lawn,’ he would say, with a smile; and once, when I begged him to desist, and told him I did not care for Rose Lawn he answered me: 

“‘But I do, and you must not complain.  You made me play, you know.’

“After that I was silent and watched him sadly, as the infatuation increased.  At last he said to me one night: 

“‘Betty,’ that was the name he gave me, ’this evening will see the end.  Something tells me I shall get back all I have lost, and I am resolved to stake everything I have.  But whether I lose or win, it is my last chance.  Don’t look so reproachfully at me.  Remember, you taught me to play, but you did not know how strong was the desire in me to do it.  A love for the gaming-table is the besetting sin of my family, and I had sworn to conquer it in myself, but you were too strong for me; so, whatever happens, do not blame me too much.  And now give me a kiss as a guaranty of success.’

“How handsome he was in the moonlight, for we were in the beautiful grounds around the Casino—­were standing in a sheltered spot close to a bed of great white lilies, whose perfume even then made me faint, I cannot smell them now without a throb of pain, they are so associated with that awful night when I bade Charlie good-by, and went back to the hotel.  I did not go with him, nor did he wish it, I disconcerted him, he said.  And so I sat by my window and watched the full moon rising higher and higher, and listened to the moan and dash of the sea against the shore below, and saw the people going and coming, until at last it was twelve o’clock, the hour for closing, and I saw the crowds come out, men and women, young and old, those who had lost and those who had won, and leaning from the casement I tried to single out Charlie, but could not.  I felt almost sure that if he had been successful he would stop at my door and tell me so.  But he did not come.

“As I sat and waited, I cannot tell you the horror and dread which took possession of me.  I knew that the moon was still shining—­that patches of silvery light were falling upon the sea, and the shrubs and flowers outside, but to me all was black as midnight, and I actually groped my way to my bed, on which I threw myself at last, shivering with cold, for the October air was blowing up chill from the water.  For a few moments I slept, and then started suddenly as I fancied I heard Charlie call my name.

“Oh-h, Betty,” was what he said, and in his voice there was a note of agony and fear, which made me shiver in every limb, as I tottered to the window and looked out.

“Oh, what a glorious night it was, rich and sweet with tropical bloom and beauty, and the full moon in the sky now moving down to the west, for it was past two o’clock.

“Every thing was still, and after listening a moment I went back to bed, and slept heavily until morning, when my brother came to my door and spoke to me in a voice I did not at first recognize, it was so strange and unnatural.