Rodney Stone . o men who were lookedupon as rival arbiters of fashion. It was finishedby the Duke of Queensberry passing his armthrough Brummels and leading him off, whilemy uncle threw out his laced cambric shirt frontand shot his rufHes as if he were well satisfiedwith his share in the encounter. It is seven andforty years since I looked upon that circle ofdandies, and where now are their dainty littlehats, their wonderful waistcoats, and their bootsin which one could arrange ones cravat ? Theylived strange lives, these men, and died strangedeaths, some by their own hands, some as beg-gars,
Rodney Stone . o men who were lookedupon as rival arbiters of fashion. It was finishedby the Duke of Queensberry passing his armthrough Brummels and leading him off, whilemy uncle threw out his laced cambric shirt frontand shot his rufHes as if he were well satisfiedwith his share in the encounter. It is seven andforty years since I looked upon that circle ofdandies, and where now are their dainty littlehats, their wonderful waistcoats, and their bootsin which one could arrange ones cravat ? Theylived strange lives, these men, and died strangedeaths, some by their own hands, some as beg-gars, some in a debtors jail, some, like the mostbrilliant of them all, in a madhouse in a foreignland. There is the card room, Rodney, said myuncle, as we passed an open door on our way in I saw a line of little green baizetables, with small groups of men sitting round,while at one side was a longer one from whichthere came a continuous murmur of voices. Youmay lose what you like in there save only your. ^z/zr Lost like the devil he snapped. WATIERS. 169 nerve or your temper, my uncle continued.—Ah, Sir Lothian, I trust that luck was withyou. A tall, thin man, with a hard, austere face hadstepped out of the open doorway. His heavilythatched eyebrows covered quick little grayeyes, and his gaunt features were hollowed at thecheek and temple like water-grooved flint. Hewas dressed entirely in black, and I noticed thathis shoulder swayed a little as if he had beendrinking. Lost like the devil! he snapped. Dice ? No; whist. You couldnt get very hard hit over that! Couldnt you ? he snarled. Play a hun-dred a trick and a thousand on the rub and losesteadily for five hours, and see what you thinkof it. My uncle was evidently struck by the haggardlook on the others face. I hope its not very bad, he said. Bad enough. It wont bear talking the way, Tregellis, have you got your manfor this fight yet? No. You seem to be hanging in the wind a longtime. Its play or pay, you
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