Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1855-03-01
For the uniaitiated in. the myste-

Tl6S vi uuOutc ~ uuor W nSSS-J ~
state, that by uttering these words
Vallega bound himself, ifan ace came
up before a king, to pay an equa
lamount to that in the bank, as vel
as all the winnings Of those who had
backed the ace. If onrthe Other
hand, the king won, the whole capital
of the bank was his, as well as the
stakes of those who bet against him
"Copo al Rey."
There was general murmur Of
establishment. The bank was the
largest that had been seen in that
room since acertain memorable night,
when King Ferdinand himself, being
outupon one of the nocturnal trolIcs,
in which he SO much delighted, had
come up in disguise with an officer
of his household, and had lost a sum
that greatly advantaged the bankers
and sorely diminished the contents
of his Catholic Majesty 5 privy purse.
There we're at least thirty thousand
dollars on the table in gold and pa,
per, and besides that, scarcely had
/. the Mexican uttered the name of the
card he favorsd, when, on the strength
of his previous ill-luck, some Of the
players put dowu nearly half as much
mole against it. The two bankers
looked at each other; the guardsman
shrugged his shoulders and elevated
his eyebrows. Both movements
were so slight as to be scarcely per-
ceptible; but they were, nevertheless,
excellently we'll observed and under
stood, by his partner, the high dried
old marquis, sitting opposite to him,
who laid pack of cards upon the ta-
Bile, their face to the cloth, and, after
placing a piece Of money on them to
prevent their being disturbed BY any
chance puff of wind, opened his gold
box, and took a prodigious pinch of
snuff. Having done this with much
deliberation, he let his hands fall up
on his knees, and leant back in his
chair with a countenance expressive
Of finexhaustible patience. The play
ers waited for nearly minute, but
then began to grow impatient of the
delay. At the first question put to
the marquis. as to his motive, he
waived his hand towards Valleja.
81 am waiting for the Senor Cond,
said he. I
"For me?" replied Valleja. SIT is
' /
"There we're about twenty thou
sand dollars in the bank" said
the marquis, leaning forward, and
affecting to, count 4rouleaus lying
before him, "and some eight thousand
staked by these gentlemen. Will
your Senoria be pleased to place a
similar sum upon the table," |
Several Of the gamblers exchang- [
ed significant glances and half smiles.
The rule of the game required the
player who endeavored, as ValleJa |
was doing, to annihilate the bank at
one fell swoop, to produce a sum e.
quail to that which he had a chance
Of carrying of: At the same time,
in societies like this, one, where the
players we're all, more or less, known
to each otber,--all men of rank,
name and fortune, lit was not unu-
sual to play this sort Of decisive coup
upon parole, and, if lost, the money
was invariably forthcoming the same
day., s,,.s .al -
villeja smiled bitterly, -
81 thought l had been sufficient t
ly known here,'' said: he, "to be adj
mitted to the same privilege as other
players. Rafael" added he, turning
to his friend and handing him a key,
ayour fathers ten thousand dollars
have melted, but l have packet OF
notes and current securities to con-
siderably more than the needful a
mount, in the brass bound box in my
apartment. Will you have the kind
ness to fetch them for me?" l do
not wish to interrupt my observa-
ton of the game, s; :,
with pleasure replied Rafael,
taking the key, and eager to oblige
his friend
and, perhaps continued the Val
lejah, smiling, and OBTAINING him as
he Was about to hasten out Of the
room, perhaps you will not object to
tell these gentlemen that, until you
return With the money, they may
take Louis Valleja's word for the
sum he wishes to play. .sasg.