The boy had till then been well-behaved and trustworthy.

Arriving three days before at the town, he had not gone to his relations, had put up at the hotel, and gone straight to the club in the hope of finding in some back room a "travelling banker," or at least some game of cards for money.

But that evening there was no "banker" there or gambling going on.

Going back to the hotel about midnight he asked for champagne, Havana cigars, and ordered a supper of six or seven dishes.

But the champagne made him drunk, and the cigar made him sick, so that he did not touch the food when it was brought to him, and went to bed almost unconscious.