“Will they? Then if anything happens, the consequence of his own deliberate obyou must go to your Aunt Anne." stinacy or want of principle, is more than Why what can any human being can or will endure. No! all is over. I have been misled and foolish. I can see now many circumstances which

66

Anything happens?

happen?"

"Ruin!"

"What, uncle?" I exclaimed, with a ought to have struck me at first, and which

start which nearly upset the little table before which I sat.

would have arrested the attention of a less excitable person, and warned him, but which never occurred to me until too late. Regrets now, however, are useless: nothing can recall the past? and my only comfort is, that my wife will be provided for, let what will become of me."

"But is the matter quite hopeless, uncle? Are you quite sure that nothing can be done?"

"Because it is the truth. Three years ago I engaged in a mining speculation, "No, Lizzie, I am not sure. I believe which promised so fairly that many prac- that in my case something might be done, tical men, whose lives had been spent in for I have not joined so entirely as others studying the subject, embarked largely in it; did; but I am so thoroughly depressed and and I following their example and advice, invested the whole of my capital. The project has failed, and we are all ruined." "Does my aunt know?

66

subdued, that I dare not proceed upon my own responsibility,-I have lost confidence in myself, in my own judgment; and as I have no children to suffer for my folly, and my wife is provided for, I shall let thing go their own way. I can get a situation in London which will keep me,"

"But if you will not trust yourself, uncle, will you not trust my aunt? She is a clever

Oh, she will not taunt now; she will be woman, and surely you should not give up too sorry for you."

without making an effort to redeem affairs." "No; I ought not, perhaps; but I shall.

And taking his hat from a little side-table he walked out.

Nonsense! People who are sorry, or really interested for others, don't scare their It is cowardly, I dare say, but I can better confidence away by telling them how much face ruin than taunts. I deserve the one, wiser they are. If your aunt, three years but no man deserves the other." ago, when this matter was first proposed to me, had acted differently to what she did, all would have been different. I should I never saw him after. Late in the evenhave consulted her upon the subject, and in ing a note was brought to my aunt from a all human probability, she, being of a less friend's house in the neighbourhood, saying, sanguine disposition than myself, would that her husband was spending a few days have seen much that in my ardour I did not there, and requesting that his portmanteau see, and have prevented my entrance into might be furnished and sent to him. the business at all. But instead of encour- By her desire I packed and despatched aging, she always deters me from telling the necessary articles, and the next intelliher anything, by raking up old grievances, gence we had was, that poor Uncle Charles and repeating over and over again, that she had gone to London, been arrested there, knew from the first how it would be. and was incarcerated in the King's Bench. Failure itself is hard enough to bear, Lizzie, Then came other law proceedings, a sale at for no man undertakes a thing without be- Merrifield, investigation of my aunt's setlieving that he will succeed; but to be tlement, and sorrows of all kinds; until taunted and jeered, as if his ill success were finally, after a year's strife and struggle,

many hard dealings from others, and many The cry of horror o'er the waves,
vain appeals to relations, who had all, as it
then appeared, told them so before, my
uncle and aunt met again, all the wiser and
better, though, for their experience.

Upon my aunt's income they lived abroad, until first one, and then the other, died; but never, under any circumstances, from the first day of their re-union to the last, was Aunt Lotty heard to remind her husband, however great might be the provocation, or justly due the reproach, that she had TOLD

LUCK IN ODD NUMBERS. and Romans, dinner tables were three-sided, and the guests congregated in threes and ONE of the most ancient and universal pre-fives. At a Roman funeral, three handfuls possessions or beliefs is that which imputes of sand were scattered over the corpse, just luck to odd numbers. Thus the poets, tak- as, in our beautiful service for the dead, ing advantage of the popular superstition, three handfuls of earth are thrown upon the have given peculiar prominency to the num-coffin when the minister pronounces the sobers three, five, seven, &c.; and from the lemn words-"Earth to earth, dust to dust, earliest times to the present, good housewives ashes to ashes."

would never think of putting any but an odd The Roman markets were held every ninth number of eggs under a hen or goose; indeed, we have heard it asserted that the sit-day, the people were numbered every five ting-bird would surely break one of the eggs years; and Vegetius, in his treatise on "Mior kill one of the chickens rather than bring litary Affairs," tells us that the fosse around an even number of little ones into the world, a camp should not be less than nine feet or The precocious author who wrote the well- more than seventeen, but that whatever the

known epitaph

"Here lies good Master Duck,

Whom Samuel Johnson trod on;

If he had lived it had been good luck,

For then we should have an odd one,"

width, it should always consist of an unequal number of feet. Indeed, it is remarkable how frequently, both in ancient and modern times, unequal numbers have been said to possess particular virtues. Thus we have carries the superstitious notion from the eggs the "mystic numbers"-nine, seven, and to the ducklings; and in Devonshire and three-in a variety of combinations. In the Cornwall it is considered to this day a very ceremonies attendant upon the proper oblucky thing to possess an odd number of servance of Allhallow Eve the number three children, sheep, fowls, &c. A little child in is paramount, and every schoolboy knows Redruth, in the latter county, was born with that "the third time is lucky." In all matsix fingers on each hand, and during the ters of superstition the number three is the cholera year it died. It was indeed the only especial favorite. When the three witches male child who died of the pestilence in that in Macbeth meet in the cave, and dance town; and both mother and father-the lat- around the boiling cauldron, do they not sing ter a stalwart copper-miner and leader of the choir in the old church-were accustomed

"Thrice the brindled cat hath mewed,
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined?"

to declare that "they were not surprised, It is not necessary to adduce further infor it had six fingers on both its hands, and stances of this universal prepossession in it was born at twelve at night; and you know favour of odd numbers; but the question there's no luck in evens." naturally arises-whence this apparent love Not to mention the Egyptians and He-of units before duals, of odds above evens? brews, of whose partiality for odd numbers We will endeavour to explain. It will be many illustrations might be given, we may admitted, we think, on all hands, that in just refer to a few instances in which the an- every state of human existence, gentle and cients evinced their predilection in favour of simple, savage and refined, there is in the odd notions. In the Grecian mythology mind of man a love of gambling. It is a there were three graces, three syrens, three hard sentence to pronounce, but unfortunfuries, three fates, seven wise men, nine ately a true one, nevertheless; and it has muses, &c. The gods, Virgil tells us, de-been said that the love of gambling is one of lighted in odd numbers; and Pythagoras, the lines of demarcation which separates the philosopher, is particular in ascribing man from the brute. We need not, just great virtue to the number three. Every now, instance the wide-spread ruin which Greek city had an unequal number of gates this propensity has worked among civilized and temples. Theocritus, the Syracusan communities, for the lower the state of man poet, divided his flocks into unequal num-the more fully and completely do we find bers, and we learn that among the Greeks him addicted to games of chance. Well, VOL. V.-U.

then, what kind of game would most natu- are used; but where three dice are played rally conduce to this too general passion? with, the odds have evidently the best of it, Why, none so easily as the game that all because however they may fall, the chances school-boys play-odd and even, or, as the that the spots will count odd are as three to Romans expressed it, par impar. By it an two. appeal is at once made to fortune, and a few

The study of what is called the theory of nuts, stones, or even the fingers themselves chances will sufficiently exemplify this.

THE FORTUNE OF LAW.

held suddenly up, determine and decide the chance in an instant. In this game, if the player who calls "odds" has an evident advantage over him who cries "evens," then we have a ready solution of the luck imputed. I was chatting one day with an old schoolto odd numbers. To explain; in the old fellow of mine, who though young, was a game, "Buck, buck, how many fingers do Ibarrister of some eminence, when the conhold up?" the player raises for an instant versation turned upon his own career. one or more of his fingers, and the adversary "People," he said, "give me credit for cries out one, two, three, &c., as he chooses. much more than I deserve. They compli Now, as there are five fingers, the chances ment me on having attained my position by in favour of odd are as three to two. Again, talent, and sagacity, and all that; but, the if you hold an unknown quantity of nuts or fact is, I have been an extremely lucky man marbles in your closed hand, and challenge-I mean as regards opportunities. The your adversary to guess odd or even, the only thing for which I really can consider chances are in favour of odd, because the myself entitled to my credit is, that I have number must be one or more, and if more always been prompt to take advantage of than two, then the chances in favour of odds them." increases with every unit added, because in "But," I observed, " you have a high the numbers one, two, three, there are two reputation for legal knowledge and acumen. odd ones against one even one, and the I have heard several persons speak in terms chances are as two to one. Advance the of great praise of the manner in which you number, and you will find that the evens conducted some of your late cases." never get the advantage. Suppose you take "Ah! yes," he returned; "when a man four, then you have two to two; still the is fortunate, the world soon find fine things evens have no advantage. If you take five, in him. There is nothing like gilding to then the chances in favour of odd are as hide imperfections, and bring out excellenthree to two; and so throughout-every one cies. But I will just give you one instance added giving the chances in favour of odds of what I call my luck. It happened a year -in a constantly diminishing ratio, but still or two ago, and before I was quite as well an evident advantage. The reason is ma- known as I am now: it was a trivial thing nifest. The odds and evens do not start fair: in itself, but very important in its conseand while the chances in favour of odds quences to me, and has ever since been very never decrease, those in favour of evens never fresh in my memory. I had been retained advance the latter, in fact, never do, and on behalf of a gentleman who was defendant never can, overtake the advantage possessed in an action for debt, brought against him by the deciding unit. Now, it is not pre- by a bricklayer, to recover the amount of a tended that untutored savages ever detected bill, stated to be due for building work done this principle, but they doubtless were aware on the gentleman's premises. The owner of its results, and thus a superstitious vene- refused payment on the ground that a verbal ration for, and belief in, the luck of odd contract had been made for the execution of numbers may have arisen. In other games the work, at a price less by one-third than of pure chance, such as throwing dice, the amount claimed. Unfortunately he had "pitch-penny," &c., the odds have no advan- no witnesses to the fact. The man denied tage over evens, if equal number of pieces the contract, alleged that no specification

had been made, and pleaded, finally, that if

"The dog-cart was put up, and we pre

such contract had been entered into, it sently went on to the court. The case was was vitiated by alterations, to all of which opened in an off-hand style by the opposite he was prepared to swear, and had his counsel, who characterized the plea of a assistant also ready to certify the amount contract as a shallow evasion, and called of labour and material expended. I gave the plaintiff as his principal witness. What my opinion that it was a hopeless case, and was my surprise to see get into the box that the defendant had better agree to a com- the very man whom we had beheld hampromise than incur any further expense. mering the boy's head on the kerb-stone an However, he would not, and I was fain to hour before. An idea occurred to me at trust to the chapter of accidents for any the moment, and I half averted my face chance of success. from him; though, indeed, it was hardly "Near the town where the trial was to likely he would recognise me under my take place lived an old friend of mine, who, forensic wig. He gave his evidence in a after the first day's assize carried me off in positive, defiant sort of way, but very clearly his carriage to dine and sleep in his house, and decisively. He had evidently got his engaging to drive me over early next morn- story well by heart, and was determined ing in time for this case, which stood next to stick to it. I rose and made a show of on the list. Mr. Tritten, the gentleman in cross-examining him, till I saw that he was question, was there also, and we had another getting irritated, and denying things in a discussion as to the prospects of his defence. wholesale style. He had been drinking, too, I know the fellow,' said he, to be a I thought, just enough to make him insolent thorough rascal, and it is because I feel so and reckless. So, after a few more unimconfident that something will come out to portant questions, I asked, in a casual tone prove it, that I am determined to persist.' -“You are married, Mr. Myers?' I said I hoped it might be so, and we retired to rest.

66 6

'Yes, I am.'

"And you are a kind husband, I sup

pose?'

666

666

I suppose so: what then?'

Have any children blessed your union, Mr. Myers?'

"The plaintiff's counsel here called on the judge to interfere. The questions were irrelevant and impertinent to the matter in question.

"I pledged my word to the Court that they were neither, but had a very important bearing on the case, and was allowed to proceed. I repeated my question.

"After breakfast the next morning, my host drove me over in his dog-cart to the assize town. We are just entering the outskirts, when, from a turning down by the old inn and posting-house, where the horse was usually put up, there came running towards us a lad pursued by a man, who was threatening him in a savage manner. Finding himself overtaken, the lad, after the custom of small boys in such circumstances, lay down curling himself up, and holding his hands clasped over his head. The man approached, and after beating him roughly with his fist, and trying to pull him up without success, took hold of the collar of the boy's coat and knocked his head several times on the ground. We were just opposite at the moment, and my friend bade him let the lad alone, and not be such a brute. The fellow scowled, and telling us, with an oath, to mind our own business, for the boy was his own, and he had a right to No! I ain't.' beat him if he pleased, walked off, and his victim scampered away in the opposite example?' direction.

"I've a boy and a girl.' "Pray, how old are they?' "The boy's twelve, and the girl nine, I b'lieve.'

"Ah! Well, I suppose you are an affectionate father, as well as a kind husband. You are not in the habit of beating your wife and children, are you?'

"I don't see what business it is of yours.

"You don't knock your son about, for

"No! I don't.' (He was growing