maison_. I would not for anything in the world have pained my kind
aunt; and besides I was naturally of a rather cool temperament.


II


From my earliest years I had been fond of chess; I had no idea of the
science of the game, but I didn't play badly. One day in a cafe, I was
the spectator of a prolonged contest at chess, between two players, of
whom one, a fair-haired young man of about five-and-twenty, struck me as
playing well. The game ended in his favour; I offered to play a match
with him. He agreed,... and in the course of an hour, beat me easily,
three times running.

'You have a natural gift for the game,' he pronounced in a courteous
tone, noticing probably that my vanity was suffering; 'but you don't
know the openings. You ought to study a chess-book--Allgacir or Petrov.'

'Do you think so? But where can I get such a book?'

'Come to me; I will give you one.'

He gave me his name, and told me where he was living. Next day I went to
see him, and a week later we were almost inseparable.


III