would have received at least a hundred and fifty millions, and so there
need be no anxiety on that score."

"I am not the only person who has doubts on the subject. You must grant
the possibility of the Crown losing an enormous sum at the first
drawing?"

"Certainly, sir, but between possibility and reality is all the region of
the infinite. Indeed, I may say that it would be a great piece of good
fortune if the Crown were to lose largely on the first drawing."

"A piece of bad fortune, you mean, surely?"

"A bad fortune to be desired. You know that all the insurance companies
are rich. I will undertake to prove before all the mathematicians in
Europe that the king is bound to gain one in five in this lottery. That
is the secret. You will confess that the reason ought to yield to a
mathematical proof?"

"Yes, of course; but how is it that the Castelletto cannot guarantee the
Crown a certain gain?"

"Neither the Castelletto nor anybody in the world can guarantee
absolutely that the king shall always win. What guarantees us against any
suspicion of sharp practice is the drawing once a month, as then the
public is sure that the holder of the lottery may lose."

"Will you be good enough to express your sentiments on the subject before
the council?"