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The Lock and Key Library - The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations: North Europe — Russian — Swedish — Danish — Hungarian by Unknown
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"Mere chance!" said one of the guests.

"A tale!" observed Hermann.

"Perhaps they were marked cards!" said a third.

"I do not think so," replied Tomsky, gravely.

"What!" said Naroumoff, "you have a grandmother who knows how to
hit upon three lucky cards in succession, and you have never yet
succeeded in getting the secret of it out of her?"

"That's the deuce of it!" replied Tomsky, "she had four sons, one
of whom was my father; all four were determined gamblers, and yet
not to one of them did she ever reveal her secret, although it
would not have been a bad thing either for them or for me. But
this is what I heard from my uncle, Count Ivan Ilitch, and he
assured me, on his honor, that it was true. The late Chaplitsky--
the same who died in poverty after having squandered millions--once
lost, in his youth, about three hundred thousand roubles--to
Zoritch, if I remember rightly. He was in despair. My
grandmother, who was always very severe upon the extravagance of
young men, took pity, however, upon Chaplitsky. She gave him three
cards telling him to play them one after the other, at the same
time exacting from him a solemn promise that he would never play at
cards again as long as he lived. Chaplitsky then went to his
victorious opponent, and they began a fresh game. On the first
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