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have a flutter you might make a bit.’
Philip had been waiting anxiously for such an opportu-
nity, but now that it came he hesitated. He was desperately
afraid of losing money. He had little of the gambler’s spirit.
‘I’d love to, but I don’t know if I dare risk it. How much
could I lose if things went wrong?’
‘I shouldn’t have spoken of it, only you seemed so keen
about it,’ Macalister answered coldly.
Philip felt that Macalister looked upon him as rather a
donkey.
‘I’m awfully keen on making a bit,’ he laughed.
‘You can’t make money unless you’re prepared to risk
money.’
Macalister began to talk of other things and Philip, while
he was answering him, kept thinking that if the venture
turned out well the stockbroker would be very facetious at
his expense next time they met. Macalister had a sarcastic
tongue.
‘I think I will have a flutter if you don’t mind,’ said Philip
anxiously.
‘All right. I’ll buy you two hundred and fifty shares and if
I see a half-crown rise I’ll sell them at once.’
Philip quickly reckoned out how much that would
amount to, and his mouth watered; thirty pounds would
be a godsend just then, and he thought the fates owed him
something. He told Mildred what he had done when he saw
her at breakfast next morning. She thought him very silly.
‘I never knew anyone who made money on the Stock Ex-
change,’ she said. ‘That’s what Emil always said, you can’t

Of Human Bondage