There would be none to sympathize with him when he cursed
his ill-luck, there would be no chance of contending with an innocent
who would be as reckless as was he himself. He looked round. The room
was gloomy and uncomfortable. Captain Vignolles watched him, and was
afraid that his prey was about to escape. "Won't you light a cigar?"
Mountjoy took the cigar, and then felt that he could not go quite at
once. "I suppose you went to Monaco?"
"I was there for a short time."
"Monaco isn't bad,--though there is, of course, the pull which the tables
have against you. But it's a grand thing to think that skill can be of
no avail. I often think that I ought to play nothing but rouge et noir."
"You?"
"Yes; I. I don't deny that I'm the luckiest fellow going; but I never
can remember cards. Of course I know my trade. Every fellow knows his
trade, and I'm up pretty nearly in all that the books tell you."
"That's a great deal."
"Not when you come to play with men who know what play is. Look at
Grossengrannel. I'd sooner bet on him than any man in London.
Grossengrannel never forgets a card. I'll bet a hundred pounds that he
knows the best card in every suit throughout the entire day's play.
That's his secret.
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