-65--"This will never do," said Oaklands to me, as, for the third time, we were obliged to turn round and cover our eyes, to avoid being blinded by the cloud of dust which a strong east wind was driving directly in our faces; "there is nothing in the world tires one like walking against a high wind. A quarter to three," added he, taking out his watch. "I have an appointment at three o'clock. Will you walk with me? I must turn up here."

I a.s.sented; and, turning a corner, we proceeded up a narrow street, where the houses, in a great measure, protected us from the wind. After walking some little distance in silence Oaklands again addressed me:--

"Frank, did you ever play at billiards?"

I replied in the negative.

"It's a game I've rather a liking for," continued he; "we have a table at Heathfield, and my father and I often played when the weather was too bad to get out. I used to beat the old gentleman easily though at last, till I found out one day he did not half like it, so then I was obliged to make shocking mistakes, every now and then, to give him a chance of winning; anybody else would have found me out in a minute, for I am the worst hand in the world at playing the hypocrite, but my father is the most unsuspicious creature breathing. Oh! he is such a dear old man.

You must come and stay with us, Frank, and learn to know him and love him--he'd delight in you--you are just the sort of fellow he likes."

"There's nothing I should like better," answered I, "if I can get leave from head-quarters; but why did you want to know if I played at billiards?"

"Oh, I have been playing a good deal lately with c.u.mberland, who seems very fond of the game, and I'm going to meet him at the rooms in F----Street to-day; so I thought, if you knew anything of the game, you might like to come with me."

"c.u.mberland is a first-rate player, isn't he?" asked I.

"No, I do not think so: we play very evenly, I should say; but we are to have a regular match to-day, to decide which is the best player."

"Do you play for money?"

"Just a trifle to give an interest to the game, nothing more," replied Oaklands; "our match to-day is for a five-pound note."

I must confess that I could not help feeling extremely uneasy at the information Oaklands had just given me. The recollection of what Coleman had said concerning some gaming affair in which c.u.mberland was supposed -66--to have behaved dishonourably, combined with a sort of general notion, which seemed to prevail, that he was not exactly a safe person to have much to do with, might in some degree account for this; still I always felt a kind of instinctive dislike and mistrust of c.u.mberland, which led me to avoid him as much as possible on my own account. In the present instance, when the danger seemed to threaten my friend, this feeling a.s.sumed a vague character of fear; "and yet," reasoned I with myself, "what is there to dread? Oaklands has plenty of money at his command; besides, he says they play pretty evenly, so that he must win nearly as often as c.u.mberland; then, he is older than I am, and of course must be better able to judge what is right or wrong for him to do." However, remembering the old adage, that "lookers-on see most of the game," I determined, for once, to accompany him; I therefore told him that, though I could not play myself, it would be an amus.e.m.e.nt to me to watch them, and that, if he had no objection, I would go with him, to which proposition he willingly agreed. As we turned into F----Street we were joined by c.u.mberland, who, as I fancied, did not seem best pleased at seeing me, nor did the scowl which pa.s.sed across his brow, on hearing I was to accompany them, tend to lessen this impression. He did not, however, attempt to make any opposition to the plan, merely remarking that, as I did not play myself, he thought I should find it rather dull.

After proceeding about half way down the street c.u.mberland stopped in front of a small cigar-shop, and, turning towards a private door, on which was a bra.s.s plate with the word "Billiards" engraved on it, knocked, and was admitted. Leading the way up a dark, narrow staircase, he opened a green baize door at the top, and ushered us into a tolerably large room, lighted by a sky-light, immediately under which stood the billiard-table. On one side was placed a rack, containing a formidable arrangement of cues, maces, etc., while at the farther end two small dials, with a bra.s.s hand in the centre for the purpose of marking the scores of the different players, were fixed against the wall. As we entered, two persons who were apparently performing certain intricate manoeuvres with the b.a.l.l.s by way of practice immediately left off playing and came towards us. One of these, a little man, with small keen grey eyes, and a quick restless manner, which involuntarily reminded one of a hungry rat, rejoiced in the name of "Slipsey," and proved to be the billiard-marker; his -67--companion was a tall stout personage, with a very red face, rather handsome features, large white teeth, and a profusion of bushy whiskers, moustaches, and imperial of a dark-brown colour. His dress consisted of a blue military frock coat, which he wore open, to display a crimson plush waistcoat and thick gold watch-chain, while his costume was completed by a pair of black and white plaid trousers, made in the extreme of the fashion, with a broad stripe down the outside of the leg. This personage swaggered up to c.u.mberland, and, with a manner composed of impertinent familiarity and awkwardness, addressed him as follows:--

"How d'ye do, Mr. c.u.mberland? hope I see you well, sir. Terrible bad day, gentlemen, don't you think? dusty enough to pepper the devil, as we used to say in Spain, hey? Going to have a touch at the rolley-polleys, I suppose."

"We shall be disturbing you, Captain Spicer," said c.u.mberland, who, I thought, had tact enough to perceive that his friend's free and easy manner was the reverse of acceptable to Oaklands.

"Not at all, not at all," was the reply; "it was so terrible unpleasant out of doors that, as I happened to be going by, I thought I'd look in to see if there was anything up; and as the table was lying idle I got knocking the b.a.l.l.s about with little Slipsey here, just to keep one's hand in, you know."

"Well, then, we had better begin at once," said c.u.mberland, to which Oaklands a.s.sented rather coldly.

As he was pulling off his greatcoat he whispered to me, "If that man stays here long, I shall never be able to stand it: his familiarity is unbearable; there is nothing tires me so much as being obliged to be civil to that kind of people".

"How is it to be?" said c.u.mberland, "whoever wins four games out of seven is the conqueror, wasn't that it?"

"Yes, I believe so," was Oaklands' reply.

"A very sporting match, 'pon my life," observed the Captain; "are the stakes high?"

"Oh no! a mere nothing: five, or ten pounds, did we say?" inquired c.u.mberland.

"Just as you like," replied Oaklands, carelessly.

"Ten pounds, by all means, I should say; five pounds is so shocking small, don't you think? not worth playing for?" said the Captain.

"Ten let it be then," said c.u.mberland; and after a few preliminaries they began playing.

-68--I did not understand the game sufficiently to be able to give a detailed account of the various chances of the match, nor would it probably greatly interest the reader were I to do so. Suffice it, then, to state, that, as far as I could judge, Oaklands, disgusted by the vulgar impertinence of the Captain (if Captain he was), thought the whole thing a bore, and played carelessly. The consequence was, that c.u.mberland won the first two games. This put Oaklands upon his mettle, and he won the third and fourth; the fifth was hardly contested, Oaklands evidently playing as well as he was able, c.u.mberland also taking pains; but it struck me as singular that, in each game, _his_ play seemed to depend upon that of his adversary. When Oaklands first began c.u.mberland certainly beat him, but not by many; and, as he became interested, and his play improved, so in the same ratio did c.u.mberland's keep pace with it. Of course, there might be nothing in this; the same causes that affected the one might influence the other; but the idea having once occurred to me, I determined to watch the proceedings still more closely, in order, if possible, to make up my mind on the point.

After a very close contest Oaklands also won the fifth game; in the sixth he missed a difficult stroke, after which he played carelessly, apparently intending to reserve his strength for the final struggle, so that c.u.mberland won it easily. Each had now won three games, and on the event of the seventh depended the match. Again did Oaklands, who was evidently deeply interested, use his utmost skill, and his play, which certainly was very good, called forth frequent eulogiums from the Captain, who offered to bet unheard-of sums on the certainty of his winning (which, as there was no one in the room at all likely to accept his offer, was a very safe and innocent amus.e.m.e.nt), and again, _pari pa.s.su_, did c.u.mberland's skill keep pace with his. After playing neck and neck, till nearly the end of the game, c.u.mberland gained a slight advantage, which produced the following state of affairs:--It was Oaklands' turn to play, and the b.a.l.l.s were placed in such a position, that by a brilliant stroke he might win the game, but it required great skill to do so. If he failed, the chances were so much in c.u.mberland's favour as to render his success almost a certainty. It was an anxious moment: for my own part, I felt as if I scarcely dared breathe, and could distinctly hear the throbbing of my own heart, while the Captain, after having most liberally offered to bet five hundred pounds to five pence that he did it, remained silent and -69--motionless as a statue, watching the proceedings, with his eye-gla.s.s screwed after some mysterious fashion into the corner of his eye. And now, carefully and deliberately, Oaklands pointed his cue--his elbow was drawn back for the stroke--for the last time his eye appeared to measure and calculate the precise spot he must strike to produce the desired effect--when suddenly, and at the exact moment in which the cue struck the ball, a sonorous sneeze from the rat-like billiard-marker resounded through the room; as a necessary consequence, Oaklands gave a slight start and missed his stroke. The confusion that ensued can "better be imagined than described," as the newspapers always say about the return from Epsom. With an exclamation of anger and disappointment Oaklands turned away from the table, while the Captain began storming at Slipsey, whom he declared himself ready to kick till all was blue, for the trifling remuneration of half a farthing. The marker himself apologised, with great contrition, for his delinquency, which he declared was quite involuntary, at the same time a.s.serting that, to the best of his belief, the gentleman had made his stroke _before_ he sneezed: this Oaklands denied, and appealed to c.u.mberland for his opinion. After trying in various ways to avoid giving a direct answer, and appealing in his turn to Captain Spicer (who was so intensely positive that the sneeze had preceded the stroke, that he was willing to back his opinion to any amount), c.u.mberland very unwillingly owned that, if he was forced to say what he thought, he believed Oaklands had made his stroke before the sneeze caused him to start, but that it was a near thing, and he might very possibly be mistaken. This was quite enough for Oaklands, who declared that he was perfectly satisfied, and begged c.u.mberland to play, which, with some apparent reluctance, he did, and, as was almost a matter of certainty, proved the conqueror.

"'Pon my life, in all my experience, I never knew a gentleman lose a match in such a tremendously unfortunate way," observed the Captain.

"I am certain that if you had not been flurried, Mr. Oaklands, sir, you could have done the trick as clean as a whistle. Allow me to place the b.a.l.l.s as they were then--I know how they stood to a nicety--there, that's it to a demi-semi fraction; oblige me, sir, just as a personal favour, by trying the stroke once more."

Thus invoked, Oaklands approached the table, and, without a moment's deliberation, struck the ball, and succeeded in doing with perfect ease the very thing which a minute before would have won him ten pounds.

-70--"There! I was super-certain you could do it; the match was yours, sir, as safe as the bank, if that wretched little abortion there hadn't made that disgusting noise. Play him again, sir; play him again: Mr.

c.u.mberland's a pretty player, a very pretty player; but you're too strong for him, Mr. Oaklands; it's my firm conviction you're too strong for him."

"What do you say to giving me my revenge, c.u.mberland?" asked Oaklands.

"Oh! _I_ can have no possible objection," replied c.u.mberland, with the slightest imaginable a.s.sumption of superiority in his tone, which annoyed my ear, and which I felt sure would produce the same effect upon Oaklands. The next game Oaklands won; and they continued to play the rest of the afternoon with various success, and for what appeared to me very high stakes. I calculated that, by the time they left off, Oaklands must have lost more than thirty pounds; and yet, in spite of this, to a superficial observer he appeared to be the better player of the two: he certainly made the most brilliant strokes, but he also made blunders, and failed now and then; while c.u.mberland's score mounted up without one's exactly knowing how; he never seemed to be playing particularly well, and yet there was always something easy for him to do; while, when Oaklands had to play, the b.a.l.l.s got into such awkward positions that it appeared as if they were leagued against him.

Besides this, many things concurred to strengthen me in my pre-conceived idea, that c.u.mberland was accommodating his play to that of Oaklands, whom, I felt certain, he could have beaten easily, if he had been so inclined. If this were really the case, the only conclusion one could come to was, that the whole thing was a regularly arranged plot: the object of which was to win as much as he could of Oaklands' money. The marker's sneeze too, occurring so very opportunely for c.u.mberland's interest; and the presence of the Captain, who, by his eulogiums on Oaklands' skill, had excited him to continue playing, while, by his observations and advice, he had endeavoured (whenever it was possible) to raise the amount of the stakes; all this favoured my view of the case. Still these were but suspicions; for I was utterly without proof: and could I on mere suspicion tell Oaklands that he was a dupe, and c.u.mberland a knave? No, this would never do; so I determined, as people generally do when they are at their wits' end, and can -71--hit on nothing better, to wait and see what time would bring forth, and act according to circ.u.mstances.

Should any of my readers think such penetration unnatural in a boy of my age, brought up in a quiet country parsonage, let them remember that, though utterly ignorant of the ways of the world, I was what is called a quick, sharp boy; that I had been informed c.u.mberland was not a person to be trusted, nay, that he was known to have cheated some young man before; and that, moreover, my very unworldliness and ignorance increased my suspicions, inasmuch as it seemed to me that playing billiards, at a public table, for what I considered large sums of money, was neither more nor less than gambling; and gambling I viewed in the light of a patent twenty-devil-power man-trap, fresh baited (in the present case with a billiard cue and b.a.l.l.s) by the claws of the Evil One himself; consequently, I was prepared to view everything that pa.s.sed with the greatest mistrust; and, in such a frame of mind, I must have been blind not to have perceived something of what was going on.

CHAPTER VIII -- GOOD RESOLUTIONS

"Blest are those Whose blood and judgement are so well commingled, That they are not a pipe for Fortune's linger To sound what stop she please."

--Hamlet.

"There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft."

--Naval Song.

AS we were preparing to take our departure I observed the Captain exchange glances with c.u.mberland, who turned to Oaklands, saying:--

"Don't wait for me; I have one or two places to call at in my way back, and I shall only make you late;--when you get home, give Thomas a hint to keep back dinner five minutes or so--old Mildman won't say anything about it, if he fancies it's the servant's fault."

To this Oaklands replied, "that it was rather a shame, but he'd see what he could do for once"; and, with a very distant bow to the Captain, we left the room. As soon as we were in the street Oaklands accosted me with:--

"Well, Frank, what do you think of billiards?"

-72--"Why," replied I, after a moment's thought, "as to the game itself, it's a very pretty game, and when you can play well, I have no doubt a very interesting one; too much so, perhaps."

"Too interesting! why, that's the beauty of it; almost every other game is a bore, and tires one, because one does not get sufficiently interested to forget the trouble of it; what can you mean by too interesting?"

"You won't be angry at what I am going to say, will you?" said I, looking up in his face.

"Angry with you, my dear boy! no fear of that; always say just what you think to me, and, if it happens to be disagreeable, why it can't be helped; I would rather hear a disagreeable truth from a friend any day, than have it left for some ill-natured person to bring out, when he wants to annoy me."

"All I meant to say was this," I replied; "it seems to me that you get so much excited by the game, that you go on playing longer, and for higher stakes, than you intended to do when you began,--surely,"

continued I, "it cannot be right to lose such sums of money merely for amus.e.m.e.nt; is it not gambling?"

"I believe you are right, Frank," replied Oaklands, after a short pause, during which he had apparently been revolving the matter in his mind; "when one comes to think seriously about it, it is a most unprofitable way of getting rid of one's money; you will scarcely credit it,"