





Transcribed from the 1887 Macmillan and Co. edition of "The Madonna of
the Future et al." by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk.  Proofed
by Vanessa M. Mosher, Faith Matievich and Jonesey.





EUGENE PICKERING
by Henry James


CHAPTER I.


It was at Homburg, several years ago, before the gaming had been
suppressed.  The evening was very warm, and all the world was gathered on
the terrace of the Kursaal and the esplanade below it to listen to the
excellent orchestra; or half the world, rather, for the crowd was equally
dense in the gaming-rooms around the tables.  Everywhere the crowd was
great.  The night was perfect, the season was at its height, the open
windows of the Kursaal sent long shafts of unnatural light into the dusky
woods, and now and then, in the intervals of the music, one might almost
hear the clink of the napoleons and the metallic call of the croupiers
rise above the watching silence of the saloons.  I had been strolling
with a friend, and we at last prep