The Columbian fountain., 1846-06-26
Rev. ]. I. WARD, Assistant Editor.
PRICE ONE CENT

Orleans was at this time wealthy and wick
ed, and presented almost as gay field of
dissipation as Paris itself.
81 was not long in finding drain for my
resources. Night after night saw me sleep.
ing upon drunkard's couch. | plunged
into gambling with a perfect recklessness,
and the excitement of this for time pleas
ed me. was not the only one, by hun
dreds, OF the young planters, who was then
spending his thousands nightly upon faro
roulette. The city seemed to be one huge
gambling house. had seen no such high
gambling even in the hels Of Paris In one
night alone lost upwards Of twenty thou
sand dolars--upon another more than half
that amount Sometimes won largely,
but the sharks, taking advantage Of my reck
lessness and frequent ntoxi, alton, robbed
me--sometimes by false dice, and often, as
! found, by abstracling money from my
pocket ..s
s'On one occasion faro dealer, thinking
me intoxicated, attempted, though 10 d
slovenly manner, to cheat me out of thou.
sand dollar bet. was not too drunk TO
perceive his trick, but enough so 10 make
me regardless Of what did, and drawing
my stiet'o, pinned his hand to the abIe
] shall never forget the uproar that follow
ed. ] was much abused, and in the event
was compelled to pay large sum OF money
to stop prosecution that had b en entered
again me. In this way nv fortune soon
melted, u It'll Fl ally oh aile. fl cen ,hou-
sand dollars by m' 'rlsag, on my p anita
ton. This Went kp he Iest. and IN less
than one year, ioupd myself hesga,.d,
nd vi houl ctp,il,; for had even exh.us :
I'd this, and uhat was worse than a !. had
become druI ktrd!
"Yuu may thlnk il strange, my voung
friend, tina, could hav- fallen N tie course
nfe onr year; hu as New Orr ans ,h-.,, was,
many victim made in even less lime.
You may hunk Il strang .IiI', when re.
late 10 you tue simple incident liza bro, ght
me at last 10 my senses. | was si,ing me
morning in a c fe q the Rue Ro, ale;
the last dollar war in my hand II " AS
the last of small sum that ! had bpr-
roWrd from all acquaintance. ] had a.
ken il from my pocket ~ spp.d il for drunk;
sons circums sncas thar ] cannot now ie.
cal, made me more sober and rrfrclye than
usual. As held The silver dollar in my
hand, my eyes Inadvertently fell upon tue
6gu . of the Goddess OF Librrty. Quick
az thought the object suggested to my nlnd
her whose image was still! craven On my
heart, no deeply that all the drink in The
world could not wash it out. tell in q
train of reflections. Thought If the change
that had come over me; the height from
which had fallen; The degraded luatIon
in which then was! But above alI
thought Of her, and The question crossed
my mind, whether might not win her,
having heard that she refused the French
noblenan. II seemed to my then psialys-
ed mind desperate resolve. But il is
only when we frar drowning that we strive
desperately. AS long as an otjrct is with
in our reach we take small pains 10 keep it
there; let US bu, lose il and then comes
regret; the desire 10 win u back again ask
those who have spent a fortune. Sulll am.
biton has made the great ones Of the
world, and such ambition took possession
Of me, rendered acute by the vpry difficult
ty Of the deed to be done. The dollar, 10
be cure, had little TO do With the ieiorna-
lion that followed, though it certainly sue-
geeted the resolution that led to this refor-
nation. | thrust it back into my pocket
and rushed from the cafe. have never en-
tered one since. s..
"Francls, have little more 10 tell you.
The means by which recovered my pro-
perty were perfectly simple. ] was en-
ployed in one week from the time, as clerk
in cotton brokers' office, at salary Of
$4,000 year. The broker had been a
friend of my father recovered the amount
Of a debt of $4,000 that an English mer
chant had been owing to my fathers estate,
and shortly became partner in the firm
of my employer. AT this time, cotton
speculators' fortunes were often made in
few months, and was not very long in re-
trlevlng my lost property, and what was Of
more consequence, my reputation.
"By strange coincidence, my partner
happened to be the agent of Pierre Lasalle,'
andscircums,ances once more brought me in
contact with the old man. As understood
afterwards, he had long watched my conduct,
and in due time he invited me TO visit him at
his hotel. You may imagine my shame at
finding myself once more 10 the presence
of his daughter, but you cannot tell the