There is no need to follow him through his mutations of luck. At the end of an hour he rose from the table without a dollar. He had enough, however, to buy a glass of whiskey, which he gulped down, and then staggered out of the gambling-house.
“I was so near, and yet I lost!” he said to himself bitterly. “Why didn’t I keep the four hundred and seventy-five dollars when I had it, and get the other from the restaurant? I have been a fool—a besotted fool!”
He pulled down his hat over his eyes and bent his steps homeward, where he tossed all night, unable to sleep.
“After all,” he reflected, “I am only ten dollars worse off than when I entered the gambling house, and that was money I took from Smithson. I’ve had a pretty good lesson. The next time fortune smiles upon me I’ll make sure of what I have won, and leave off in time.”
Vincent went straight from the gambling-house to the house of his friend Smithson. The latter came down stairs half dressed and let him in.
“What brought you here so late?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Oh, no; it is only that I have found the thief who has been robbing you.”
“It is the boy, then, as I thought,” said Smithson eagerly.
“Who else is there? It is Albert Benton.”
“Are you sure of this?” asked Smithson, dumfounded.
“Come in and tell me how you found out.” Vincent entered and sat down on a chair in the front room.
“I will tell you,” he answered. “I took the liberty to go to your money drawer and mark four bills this afternoon. I marked them with a red cross on the right-hand corner of the reverse side. Well, Benton took two of those bills with him this evening when he stopped work.”
“I was near by when he left the restaurant. I followed him at a distance, and saw him enter Poole’s gambling-house.”
“I entered too, and took my place at a neighboring table. He produced a five-dollar bill, when some one suggested that gold was preferable. Upon that I offered to give him gold for bills. He produced two fives, and I gave him two gold pieces for them.”
The detective drew from his wallet two bank-notes, and showed Smithson the red cross on the reverse side of each.
“That’s pretty conclusive evidence, isn’t it?” said John Vincent, tapping the marked bills.