Read 1936 On the Continent for Free Online

dinner. The men wear dinner jackets. In Brussels one is not so tied in the matter of dress. The restaurant we chose was the Bonne Auberge, and the following day the Renommée, both excellent.
Gambling
    After dinner we went to the Kursaal, where solemn concerts are held every night. Great singers are heard at these concerts, often among the best in the world. After the concert, and even a little before the end, to be truthful, Muriel asked me to take her to the gambling rooms.
    Nothing easier, there are at Ostend two playing-rooms: one at the Kursaal, the other, the Casino Imperial (which is just behind the Kursaal), adjoins the hotel we are staying at. Both these rooms have their individual characteristics, so we were inscribed as members at both. All that was required of us was to fill in forms giving our names, addresses and ages. It is absolutely necessary to be of age in order to obtain membership cards. In exchange for this information cards were handed to us. These give access to the rooms that are so dangerous to the weak-willed and to those possessed by the gambling instinct.
    The Kursaal room is enormous. Five or six roulette tables are always running, and at least fifteen baccarat tables. You meet here all manner of people. Some obviously hard up, trying to win a twenty-franc piece or two; others playing in one “coup” from 50 to 100,000 francs. Before these last lean years I have watched bancos of 1,000,000 francs being played there. And this fortune was just a heap of coloured counters of different shapes, a magnet to the eyes of the less fortunate. The spiritof the gambling rooms remains the same, but the stakes are much smaller. It is even possible to play with a capital of ten francs, though at this rate it would take years to win a fortune. It is perhaps an exaggeration to say that the player always loses, but this is nevertheless the general result of the game. From a spectacular point of view the rooms are a sight not to be missed—the great mass of human beings hiding their greed with consummate skill. A player rarely allows his disappointment to show when things go wrong.
    The most curious phenomenon of all is perhaps the apparent disregard of the value of money, though money is the goal toward which all efforts tend. All that for twelve weary months has been put aside for the holidays may be lost in an hour. All that a stroke of luck has shovelled towards a winner may be spent in five minutes.
    If you go to the rooms you will notice that the women, who are of course admitted and who may go there alone, are not one whit less gamblers than the men. There is a great number of them and they are great believers in “systems,” which they elaborate with much cunning. They undoubtedly add a charming note to the long nights spent at or near the tables.
    Muriel was very excited by all this. She wanted to play, and risked a twenty-franc piece on the red—which was the wrong colour, of course. Then twenty francs went on the black, which was as unlucky as the red had been. She was very disappointed, but was somewhat comforted when I told her that this sort of thing often occurred ten times in succession.
We Win
    “I’ll try numbers this time,” said she, and threw five francs on the cloth. She played 17, and her stake, multiplied by thirty-five, was handed to her … this little stroke brought her 175 francs. I congratulated her, and urged her to try her luck again, but she was firm. She pocketed her winnings and turned her back on the tables, declaring that all this was too much for her poor heart.
    This is the way with most players; when they lose they will willingly empty their pockets, pursuing chance, but if they win, they rarely chance their luck again.
    Muriel, to console me for my series of losses, offered me a drink, which I accepted, though I explained that in Belgium ladies did not stand drinks as a rule. We then betook ourselves to the Casino Imperial, whose gaming rooms Muriel also wanted to