and, in a word, there was hardly a characteristic of any one

present but he seemed to catch and make a note of it. Brackenbury

began to wonder if this were indeed a gambling hell: it had so

much the air of a private inquisition. He followed Mr. Morris in

all his movements; and although the man had a ready smile, he

seemed to perceive, as it were under a mask, a haggard, careworn,

and preoccupied spirit. The fellows around him laughed and made

their game; but Brackenbury had lost interest in the guests.

"This Morris," thought he, "is no idler in the room. Some deep

purpose inspires him; let it be mine to fathom it."

Now and then Mr. Morris would call one of his visitors aside; and

after a brief colloquy in an ante-room, he would return alone, and

the visitors in question reappeared no more. After a certain

number of repetitions, this performance excited Brackenbury's

curiosity to a high degree. He determined to be at the bottom of

this minor mystery at once; and strolling into the ante-room, found

a deep window recess concealed by curtains of the fashionable

green. Here he hurriedly ensconced himself; nor had he to wait

long before the sound of steps and voices drew near him from the

principal apartment. Peering through the division, he saw Mr.

Morris escorting a fat and ruddy personage, with somewhat the look

of a commercial traveller, whom Brackenbury had already remarked

for his coarse laugh and under-bred behaviour at the table. The

pair halted immediately before the window, so that Brackenbury lost

not a word of the following discourse:-

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