"No, nothing of that kind," said the other laughing, "but a
celebrity nevertheless in his way. That is M. Linders, the
great gambler."

"I never even heard of him," said the young Englishman; "but
then I don't know much about such people."

"It is true, I had forgotten that Monsieur is not of this
country; but you would hear enough about him were you to stay
any time at Wiesbaden, or Homburg, or Spa, or any of those
places. He twice broke the bank at Homburg last year, won two
hundred thousand francs at Spa this summer, and lost them
again the next week. He is a most dangerous fellow, and
positively dreaded by the proprietors of the tables."

"What! when he loses two hundred thousand francs?"

"Ah! that is a thing that rarely happens; as a rule he is
perfectly cool, which is the principal thing at these tables,
plays when the run is in his favour, and stops when it is
against him; but occasionally he gets excited, and then of
course the chances are that he loses everything like another."

"What can he be doing here?" said Graham.

"Who knows? Stopping a night or two on his way to Paris, or
Brussels, perhaps, on the chance of finding some one here rich
enough and imprudent enough to make it worth his while. You do
not play, Monsieur?"