He used to pay in notes and gold at first, but soon it came to notes of hand and for big sums.

He sometimes would win for a few deals, just to give him heart, and then the luck would set in against him worse than ever.

All day he would wander about as black as thunder, and he took to drinking a deal more than was good for him.
"One night he lost even more heavily than usual.

I was sitting in my hut when he and Captain Morstan came stumbling along on the way to their quarters.

They were bosom friends, those two, and never far apart.