In a previous work of mine, called "GAMBLING UNMASKED," an allusion is
made to an evident conspiracy against my life, sometime before I became
a confirmed gambler. Goodrich was the name which I gave, as the chief
actor. This same doubly refined villain, it will be remembered, by all
who have read the above work, was foremost to aid in my arrest when I
made good my escape to the Pine woods, lying back of New Orleans. The
reader will likewise recollect, that I could not, at that time, account
for such manifestations of unprecedented malignity, on the part of one
from whom I might rather expect protection than persecution. But the
secret is out, and I now have the power to give clear and truthful
explanations.

This Goodrich, who resides at the present time in or near New Orleans,
and who holds the rank of gambler-general in that city of Sodom, was an
old and advanced member of the "Secret Band of Brothers." Knowing, as he
did, that I was engaged in assisting the honest part of the community to
convict two brothers who were plotting my downfall, as a sworn member of
the above fraternity, he was solemnly bound to do all in his power to
aid in the consummation of my personal ruin. That the world might know
something of this Goodrich, (though the half cannot be told,) I gave, in
my autobiography, several incidents, in which he acted a prominent part.
What I then said will answer for an introduction.

That he was connected with an organized association of gentlemen
blacklegs will not be denied. The proof is abundant. Nor was he an
apprentice, a mere novitiate; but long schooled in vice and ripening
year by year, he swelled quite beyond the bounds of ordinary meanness,
till he became a full-grown monster of his kind. Not content to gather