nine o'clock in the morning
There are the roulette tables , round which interested but cautious groups stand , while the owners indefatigably and invitingly twirl . The gambling instinct is not excessively developed in Varenzano . There was , of course , the usual resolute and solitary player , who stood through the hours silently laying one halfpenny after another on clubs , untempted to any deviation or any alteration of stake , except that on the infrequent occasions when it really turned out clubs he stolidly laid and lost his gained halfpennies by the other . By nine o'clock in the morning he had become a character ; spectators nudged new-comers and pointed him out , with '' _ Sempre fiori , quello . _ '' The young man with the embroidery was sorry about him ; he had an expression as if he were losing more halfpence than he could well afford . The young man himself lost all the stakes he made ; but he did n't gamble much , knowing himself not lucky . Instead , he watched the fluctuating fortunes of a vivacious and beautiful youth near him , who flung on his stakes with a lavish gesture of dare-devil extravagance , that implied that he was putting his fortune to the touch to win or lose it all .