No More Learning

He had money at his disposal, and my grandmother knew it. She sent him a
note asking him to come to see her. He obeyed her summons and found her
in great distress. She painted the cruelty of her husband in the darkest
colors, and ended by telling the Count that she depended upon his
friendship and generosity.

"'I could lend you the money,' replied the Count, after a moment of
thoughtfulness, 'but I know that you would not enjoy a moment's rest
until you had returned it; it would only add to your embarrassment.
There is another way of freeing yourself. '

"'But I have no money at all,' insisted my grandmother.

"'There is no need of money. Listen to me. '

"The Count then told her a secret which any of us would give a good deal
to know. "

The young gamesters were all attention. Tomsky lit his pipe, took a few
whiffs, then continued:

"The next evening, grandmother appeared at Versailles at the Queen's
gaming-table. The Duke of Orleans was the dealer. Grandmother made some
excuse for not having brought any money, and began to punt. She chose
three cards in succession, again and again, winning every time, and was
soon out of debt.
"

"A fable," remarked Herman; "perhaps the cards were marked. "

"I hardly think so," replied Tomsky, with an air of importance.

"So you have a grandmother who knows three winning cards, and you
haven't found out the magic secret. "

"I must say I have not. She had four sons, one of them being my father,
all of whom are devoted to play; she never told the secret to one of
them. But my uncle told me this much, on his word of honor. Tchaplitzky,
who died in poverty after having squandered millions, lost at one time,
at play, nearly three hundred thousand rubles. He was desperate and
grandmother took pity on him. She told him the three cards, making him
swear never to use them again. He returned to the game, staked fifty
thousand rubles on each card, and came out ahead, after paying his
debts. "

As day was dawning the party now broke up, each one draining his glass
and taking his leave.

The Countess Anna Fedorovna was seated before her mirror in her
dressing-room. Three women were assisting at her toilet. The old
Countess no longer made the slightest pretensions to beauty, but she
still clung to all the habits of her youth, and spent as much time at
her toilet as she had done sixty years before. At the window a young
girl, her ward, sat at her needlework.

"Good afternoon, grandmother," cried a young officer, who had just
entered the room.