Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1856-03-13
and my credit equal to what we play


':Signor Corsini Your ill-humor puts a
wrong construction upon my words, as well
as upon my silence. Be it so. Let us
play, Your fifty thousand sequins are
mine"
Eyes but my villa Of Camaldoli may re-
present two hundred thousand. Here are
the titledeeds of it,"
''Go on let us play for the Villa Of Cam
Adolf. We will stop, when | have played
two hundred thousand sequins against it.
eyes; thousand times, yes. Go on"
tsThe Villa of Camaldoli is mine"
''The cards are infamous the devil made
them; the fire of hell colored them. But
will you leave your victory half-finished 2
You have the villa; but | still possess my
palace, that Of my ancestors. 1t is second
only to the Pitt, as you know. Marbles
and pictures worth half a million. I offer
you the chance for it. %
"And [ accept
every well then. Double or quits -
What you have won against the palace 2"
The cards were distributed, and, in three
turns, the luck which ran so violently against
Corsini, finished as it had begun. Without
a change Of color or complaint, he laid
upon the green table, the golden key of his
palace, and opened for himself passage
through the crowd, terrified by the blow
which left him landless and penniless. No
one dared to stop him.
Again, however, he returned, and, lean
ing down, whispered, with evident emotion,
| to Doria. The latter made sign Of acqui-
escence, and the cards were resumed.
care you the devil that you always VIM"
II have proved the contrary, Signor Cor
sini, since the devil has no fancy for women,
and [ have just won from your mistress,
your betrothcd- she whom you were to mar
ry so soon =
'sYou are a coward to say it."
ssAnd you are a hundred times coward
to have staked her"
"Aglaura . his betrothed, the only dauch-
ter Of Cavalcati, bet her away. Holy Vir-
gin!' cried all the ladies present, in accents
of anger.
ssSilence and hear me-" cried the game
ster.
i-s:I Rahartn- -CA.,si.a: lalAA.alAl- -aa...- 4I-A-
most illustrious ancestry OF ktaiy; /, VINO
have had among them Governor Of Trieste;
conqueror at the Battle of Lepanto; two
consecratcd Doges Of Venice, in the fifteenth
century; who still proudly count Podestas
and Gonfalionecrs of Florence, Roberto
Corsini lord Of Camaldoli, 7 repeat, stake
my name"
ellis p cried the cavaliers, with a
burst of laughter ellis name"'
cit is well worth, 7 think, " he continued,
smiling bitterly. ''some thousand acres Of
vines, in Carrara; and the glory which ac-
companies it, my lord Doria, is not worth
less than the sum It pleases you to fix. l
stake my name. # [ lose, my lord con-
sent never to be named again whilst live
It is a fine treasure, thatname Of mine. It
/! is Inscribed in the book Of life !; it is traced
in letters Of gold, upon the register of Ven
ice; it is written in every glorious memory of
Etruria. If lose, [ agree that It shall be
erased from all. BY cur name, III the day
Of judgment, the archangel calls us from the
tomb. 1t is the key of heaven and hell
Do you understand, now, what [ risk 2
For the last time, at what will you value it.
Quick ?"
II value it too highly to fix value. If
[ gain, it will belong to me. III loose,
you shall fix it yourself"
s'Place yourself there, then"
And the two players made the sign Of the
cross. Whilst they shulfied the cards, the
company, by common impulse of terror,
abandoned the hall. and left them alone with
each other.
Midnight struck.
A cry rose upon the night-''I am dam
ned" And man went out by the gate OF
St. Paolo.
He sat down at the foot of dry tree,
and leaned his head upon his hands and
wept.
80 my Villa Of Camaldoli where the
fruits were SO beautiful my palace my
Aglaura my -lost-lost-al lost
Could [ but force it sword in hand, from
Doria; trace it upon the sand; read it when
twas writ, or even halloo it to this solitude.
But no. have gamblcd it away [ have
stripped myself of the right or power to re-
sumo it. The law Of play has taken it from
me, and debts of honor are sacred. The
world is ashamed Of me. 1t denies the a.
postate who has denied himself. am viler
in its eyes than the vilest pagan. O help
lessness. 0 misery! The very demons re-
fuse me; for even they have name in the
creation. Satan! Satan. call on thee. -
The blush Of day tinged the horizon. A
band of young girls passed him.
! ''Will you buy rose, of Marta sprie
} of jessamine, from Gloria Or
despair They have each name.''-
He left the young girls, and ran, like a
mailman across the fields, crying; "Marta,
) Luigina, Gloria! all have name but have
: none"
He knocked at the door of convent. A
monk appeared. Brother" he said 81
wish to be baptized.