Short Stories – English Reading – Level 1

A Gambler’s Death (by W.M. Thackeray)

There was a school XXX. Everyone, who went to this school twelve years ago, can remember Jack Attwood. He was a very happy and popular boy. And he had a lot of money.

One day – he was about fifteen years old – Jack left the school. We heard he went to the army, to a regiment with horses. We also heard: ‘his father is very rich and Jack will be very rich after his father’s death.’

After six months, Jack visited us in his new uniform. It was very nice. He had nice hair and he had many gold rings on his hands.

Jack talked a lot about his life in the army: ‘I rode a horse in a race with Captain Boldero, and I won!’ Then he said ‘I wanted to shoot Sir George Grig. He was angry with me because I danced with Lady Mary. But he was afraid of me and so I did not shoot him.’

He told us many stories and we all listened to him. We all liked him and we thought ‘He is the best soldier in England.’ But when he left we thought ‘Jack always told us big stories and they were never true!’

2.

Jack was not my best friend, but we were good classmates. We were the same – we were very bad students. I was a little bit sad that he forgot about me, because he rode his horse with Captain Boldero or because he wanted to shoot Sir George Grig. After that we did not hear of Jack Attwood for many years.

One day, a tailor came to our school. He made many clothes for Jack. He also made his uniform. He said ‘I have a bill for Jack Attwood for one hundred and twenty pounds. He has to pay me. Do you know where I can find him?’

Jack and his regiment were in India. He went there to shoot many tigers, I am sure. Sometimes we heard some news about him. One day, we heard that he was very bad and they had to punish him. Another day, we heard that he had twenty horses and that he won gold at the Culcutta horse race. But after that, I heard nothing of him and I didn’t think about him anymore.

3.

Last year I was in Paris. I smoked a cigar on a balcony of a smoking-shop. It was a very good cigar with very good tobacco. I sat and smoked, when suddenly, a big strong man came to my table. He sat down opposite to me and bought some brandy. He wore a very old coat and very old hat. He had a dirty face.

I did not like him, but he looked at me, and looked at me… and then.. he gave me his dirty hand and said: ‘Titmarsh, did you forget your old friend Attwood?!’

I have to say I was not very happy to see Jack Attwood. I was happy to see him when he had a nice uniform and gold rings, but not now. After twenty-five years, you learn a lot about the world. Your hand goes happily to a hand of a millionaire and it runs away from a man in dirty clothes… But Jack took my hand and held it strongly. He was very happy to see me. Or he was very poor…

But the cigar was very good and after one hour, we were good friends again. Jack said ‘I left the army. I didn’t like it there. My father died, but he had no money. He had only debts.’ And so we talked and talked, and we drank a lot of gin.

‘I have a plan how to win in all casinos in Europe. I know many good tricks,’ he said. He talked about good luck and bad luck, and we talked and talked, and we drank a lot of gin.

4.

I don’t know how I got to bed, but next morning, I opened my little pocket-book. Before I met Jack Attwood, I had a five-pound note inside. It was there before I met Jack, but it wasn’t there now. There was a piece of paper. It said “I, Jack Attwood, borrowed five pounds from Titmarsh.”

I was angry with myself. I gave him the money only because I drank a lot of gin. I needed the five-pound note very much. It was a lot of money for me. I was angry and I was very unhappy and I thought ‘How am I going to pay the rent? How am I going to buy food next two months?’

Suddenly, the door opened and Jack Attwood entered my room. He came in and said, ‘Titmarsh! You saved me! Look here! Look here!’ He took out gold and coins and bank-notes from his pockets, and he put them on the table. And then he did the same thing again. And then again… Last night, after we drank gin, Jack took the five pounds from me, and he went to play cards and… he won thirteen thousand franks!

‘Here, Titmarsh. This is yours,’ he said and gave me back my five pounds.

Yes, I was jealous. When I didn’t have my five pounds, I was worried and I thought: ‘What will I eat tomorrow?!’ And now I was unhappy because I had only five pounds! But after that Jack Attwood and I went to a restaurant. We had a very nice breakfast and he paid for it. I have to say, I got some of Jack’s money because every time we went for a dinner or to a theatre, Jack always paid. He never said ‘now you pay for this!’ He always paid for me.

5.

Jack Attwood moved to an expensive hotel. He bought a nice carriage with a beautiful horse. He also got cards. They said “Captain Attwood”. He often went to very expensive restaurants. He visited rich and important people. He had a nice woman or two with him every day. He was happy. But it was a very expensive life-style. It cost him a lot of money. However, Jack was very lucky. He played every night and he always won enough money for this life-style.

But I did not like it. Jack changed. He became a cool and difficult person. I didn’t want to eat for his money. I returned to my old life. I went to cheap restaurants again and I was happy.

6.

Jack made new friends. Mr Fips and Mr Gortz. They were lawyers. And also Flapper. He was a medical student.

One day, Flapper invited Fips, Gortz and Jack for a late dinner. He also invited me, so I went. Jack arrived late. He was white in face and quite worried. He didn’t eat anything, but he drank brandy. And he drank a lot of it. Flapper had only three bottles of brandy, but Fips went out and bought four bottles of champagne.

And they drank and they sang songs together and they were happy. However, after some time and after a few bottles they got drunk. And they had a fight. Fips said something to Gortz. Gortz didn’t like it, so he said something to Fips. And Fips didn’t like it, so he said something to Gortz, and then Gortz threw an empty bottle at Fips. Fips moved his head just in time, so it didn’t hit him.

However, the bottle flew very close to Fips’s head, and he got very angry. He was red in face and said ‘Mr Gortz, you are a very bad person! You cannot do this to me!’ And then he said ‘Flapper, your pistols! And every gentleman knows what I mean!’

Jack Attwood was quiet and smiled. He liked this show. But now he opened his mouth and said ‘Do not give them the pistols! They will kill each other! Let’s sit down and sing songs again!’

However, Mr Fips and Mr Gortz did not want to sing. They wanted to fight. They wanted to shoot. They wanted to kill each other!’

Flapper brought the box with his pistols. They wanted to start the duel. Flapper opened the box and he was quiet. The box was empty. The pistols were not there.

‘I am sorry I didn’t tell you,’ said Jack Attwood. ‘I took the pistols home with me. I wanted to clean them.’

Everybody was quiet now. Attwood wanted to talk about other things but they were not in good mood. So they finished the evening and went home.

We went out and Jack asked me: ‘Do you have a napoleon in your wallet?’

Napoleon! Of course, I didn’t. It was a lot of money for me. But I said to him: ‘I wanted to visit you in the morning and I wanted to borrow one napoleon from you!’ He said nothing to this. He just turned away and went home.

7.

Two days after this dinner, I got a letter in the morning. It said “Dear T, please come here and have breakfast with us. There is some news about Attwood. Yours truly, Solomon Gortz.”

I quickly put on my clothes and went to visit Mr Gortz. He lived close to Jack Attwood’s home. It was about 12 o’clock when I arrived at his house. Mr Gortz and Mr Fips were in the room. There was beefsteak and potatoes on the table.

‘Here is the news,’ said Mr Gortz, ‘Jack Attwood left. Please, have some beefsteak Mr Titmarsh.’

‘What do you mean he left?’ I asked him. ‘Did he leave Paris?’

‘No, Mr Titmarsh. Jack Attwood didn’t leave Paris. Jack Attwood left this world. He is dead,’ said Mr Fips, with the bloody beefsteak in his mouth.

So, Jack Attwood was dead and I felt nothing. We were together in our school days. We were together last few months, but he died and I was not sad. His death did not bring tears into my eyes. Nobody was sad, but we were polite and we said ‘It is very sad that Jack Attwood died.’ Mr Fips said ‘I am very, very sad. I feel very weak now. I need some brandy,’ and he drank a big glass of brandy.

Flapper also came and we all agreed: ‘Now we all will go and look at his body. We will also go to his funeral.’ So we went to the hotel where Jack Attwood lived before he died. When we came there, they told us that Jack did not live in the expensive rooms. In the beginning, he had very expensive rooms, but after that he moved to cheaper rooms. And after that he moved to cheaper rooms again, and again. Now, his room was very, very small. It was on the fifth floor.

We entered the room and we saw him on his bed. The room was very small. The light from the small window fell on his bed and his body. He had a green expensive shirt. There were no other clothes in the room. All drawers and cupboards were empty. He sold everything because he needed some money. There wasn’t one halfpenny in the room, no money at all.

He had one hand on his breast. The other hand fell towards the floor. In this hand, he held the pistol. There was a pool of black blood and a little hole in his head. His life ran away through it.

In this world, no one loved him. No one cried for Jack Attwood. We, his friends, just looked at him as you look at a play in the theatre. When the play is over and the curtain falls, you just leave and walk away.

Next to Jack’s bed, on a small table, there was a letter. It was from Jack’s lover. It said “Dear Jack, please come and meet me at Passage des Panoramas at eight o’clock. See you tomorrow. Fifine.”

8.

That evening I walked through this Passage des Panoramas and I saw the girl. She walked up and down and looked at every man’s face. She waited for Jack. “See you tomorrow!” she wrote in her letter. Tomorrow was here, but Jack was not. He left. Jack Attwood left this world.

The three men in this story went to his funeral. It was at six o’clock in the morning. It was a very cold winter morning, so they did not go to bed. They smoked cigars and drank brandy all night and they waited for the funeral. The city paid for it. They put Jack Attwood’s body into a cheap coffin and buried him. After that, they all went home. There they had nice breakfast and after that, some brandy.

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* from The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh, by W.M.Thackeray (adapted for Level 1 English)

Short Stories, English Reading, Level 1 / Sparrow’s English Reader