row of lookers-on who always surround the players consists in
about equal proportions of these gentry and their natural
enemies--the detectives. Their booty since the beginning of the
season must be reckoned by thousands. Mustapha Fazyl Pasha had
his pocket picked of a purse containing L600, and a Russian
lady was lately robbed of a splendid diamond brooch valued
at 75,000 francs.[79]


[79] Pall Mall Gazette, Aug. 1869.


But the days of the Kursaal are numbered, and the glories or
infamies of Hombourg are doomed.

`The fiat has gone forth. In five years[80] from this time the
"game will be made" no longer--the great gambling establishment
of Hombourg will be a thing of the past. The town will be
obliged to contend on equal terms with other watering-places for
its share of the wool on the backs of summer excursionists.


[80] In 1872.


`As most of the townspeople are shareholders in this thriving
concern, and as all of them gain either directly or indirectly by
the play, it was amusing to watch the anxiety of these worthies
during the war between Austria and Prussia. Patriotism they had
none; they cared neither for Austrian nor Prussian, for a great