The Continental Classics, Volume XVIII | Page 2

to be able to convince him by
pointing out to him that there are debts and debts, and that there is a
great difference between a prince and a coachmaker.
"But it was all in vain, my grandfather still remained obdurate. But the
matter did not rest there. My grandmother did not know what to do.
She had shortly before become acquainted with a very remarkable man.
You have heard of Count St. Germain, about whom so many marvelous
stories are told. You know that he represented himself as the
Wandering Jew, as the discoverer of the elixir of life, of the
philosopher's stone, and so forth. Some laughed at him as a charlatan;
but Casnova, in his memoirs, says that he was a spy. But be that as it
may, St. Germain, in spite of the mystery surrounding him, was a very
fascinating person, and was much sought after in the best circles of
society. Even to this day my grandmother retains an affectionate
recollection of him, and becomes quite angry if anyone speaks
disrespectfully of him. My grandmother knew that St. Germain had

large sums of money at his disposal.
"She resolved to have recourse to him, and she wrote a letter to him
asking him to come to her without delay. The queer old man
immediately waited upon her, and found her overwhelmed with grief.
She described to him in the blackest colors the barbarity of her husband,
and ended by declaring that her whole hope depended upon his
friendship and amiability.
"St. Germain reflected.
"'I could advance you the sum you want,' said he, 'but I know that you
would not rest easy until you had paid me back, and I should not like to
bring fresh troubles upon you. But there is another way of getting out
of your difficulty: you can win back your money.'
"'But, my dear Count,' replied my grandmother, 'I tell you that I haven't
any money left!'
"'Money is not necessary,' replied St. Germain, 'be pleased to listen to
me.'
"Then he revealed to her a secret, for which each of us would give a
good deal."
The young officers listened with increased attention. Tomsky lit his
pipe, puffed away for a moment, and then continued:
"That same evening my grandmother went to Versailles to the jeu de la
reine. The Duke of Orleans kept the bank; my grandmother excused
herself in an offhanded manner for not having yet paid her debt by
inventing some little story, and then began to play against him. She
chose three cards and played them one after the other; all three won
sonika,[1] and my grandmother recovered every farthing that she lost."
"Mere chance!" said one of the guests.
"A tale!" observed Hermann.

"Perhaps they were marked cards!" said a third.
"I do not think so," replied Tomsky, gravely.
"What!" said Naroumoff, "you have a grandmother who knows how to
hit upon three lucky cards in succession, and you have never yet
succeeded in getting the secret of it out of her?"
"That's the deuce of it!" replied Tomsky, "she had four sons, one of
whom was my father; all four were determined gamblers, and yet not to
one of them did she ever reveal her secret, although it would not have
been a bad thing either for them or for me. But this is what I heard from
my uncle, Count Ivan Hitch, and he assured me, on his honor, that it
was true. The late Chaplitsky--the same who died in poverty after
having squandered millions--once lost, in his youth, about three
hundred thousand roubles--to Zoritch, if I remember rightly. He was in
despair. My grandmother, who was always very severe upon the
extravagance of young men, took pity, however, upon Chaplitsky. She
gave him three cards telling him to play them one after the other, at the
same time exacting from him a solemn promise that he would never
play at cards again as long as he lived. Chaplitsky then went to his
victorious opponent, and they began a fresh game. On the first card he
staked fifty thousand roubles, and won sonika; he doubled the stake,
and won again; till at last, by pursuing the same tactics, he won back
more than he had lost."
"But it is time to go to bed, it is a quarter to six already." And, indeed,
it was already beginning to dawn; the young men emptied their glasses
and then took leave of each other.
II
The old Countess A---- was seated in her dressing-room in front of her
looking-glass. Three waiting maids stood around her. One held a small
pot of rouge, another a box of hairpins, and the third a tall cap with
bright red ribbons. The Countess had no longer the slightest pretensions
to