Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-01-11


| te ending for vlctory-now at lasquenet, now at
| faro, now at ecarte and the losses of Rally
| amounted to 100000 rOubles. The game at
| present was ecarte, and had been four against
four; but the betters, becoming alarmed,
| thought it prudent 70 resume their stakes /:
they were renewed by the Prince and Rally.
and the stake now amounted to the round sum
| Of SO, 900 forms.
The cards were shufled and distributed !;
the trump card was hearts; they were 10 be
| renewed twice.
| Fire sparkled in the eyes of the Prince. but
those of Rally were impenetrable 1t was
not man, but Statue-the expression never
| changed.
4" Hearts - said the Prince
| "I have it,
Hearts, be replied
| Here il is
" Hearts, - again.
Here -
! Hearts 80
Rally leaned back in his chair, looking
with indifference on the table at the heap of
| gold to which the hands of the Prince were
| eagerly extended.
The JOY of GouIOubskOff amounted to intox-
Ication. " You will not quit playing, L hope.
| Sir James, he said can Englishman never
abandOns the field of battle. -
! Never, Prince nor Russian either Is
it not so ga
| IL - n halloHdi pTeJuQlCe Win us nut
perhaps you would like to change the game
| Will faro fer two suit you 20
| - Faro let it be.
The two adverSsries entered the lists again
! The Prince held the bank and gained 20, 900
| roubles. His good fortune seemed fatality it
| sell. Yet the perfect calmness of the Eng
ilshnan was not less astonishing. He pursued
MS ooJect with the lmpassability of his com
patriots before the French battalions at Wa
terloo, when Wellington, seeing his soldiers
| 1aii one after the other, took his watch and
said: Z" They die at so many minute; have
yet such number of men; it will be an hour
before the last one falls; Blucher will have
time to arrive; the victory is mine -
| Rally dealt in his turn. This time fortune
passed over to his side. He gained. lie dou-
bled his stake, and gained again He had
just gathered up $4,000 roubles, when he an
| noUnced that he had tripled his stake
| The Prince was too good a player to recoiI
| Rally still gained. GoulOubskOff still played
| on, till he had exhausted all the gold and
notes at mis- disposal. He then proposed to
| play on credit, chalkinS the stakes upon the
| table. Rally accepted, and gained three
times In succession
BY St; George he cried, 81 have gain
! cd goo, 600 rUbles'
81 congratulate you, said the Prince, with
nervous contraction of the cOuntenance He
began to suffer.
:, You will not stop playing, hope, Prince.
| a Russian never abandOns the field Of battle
| Never, Sir James, as l told you. But
shall We change the game! The air is sti-
| fling here. Let us go into the garden. You
| have reputation as a marksman; suppose
| we try shot"
Rally, who saw the nervous agitation of his
| companion, readily accepted. Besides, Gus
| tom required that he should be at the dispo-
| sal of his adversary.
In a moment the hall was empty
"What shall be the stake, Sir James,"
1.-Two hundred thousand rubles"
Agreed, but have no more gold; and l
| must not exhaust my credit at the Bank of
Vienna, which is quite indispensable to me. -
"Then L will wager 2O0,OOO rubles against
one of your estates
"DO you wish to become Muscovite pro-
prietor ~
at is a mere whim, like any other"
"AId one which l am not disposed TO
thwart. / have something of that value near
Moscow 1t is on the declivity of hill, from
which you can see admirably the yet smoking
ruins of the holy city 1 have also at two
miles from Volugda-"
Rally shrugged his shoulders. alt is too
"Ah! then L have something else which
which may suit you, charming little village
near the Volga."
g " Here goes for the vOlga, then. And you
estimate this property
g At something more than 200, 900 rubles'' -
"Then L add $4,000 to my stake"
agreed; but 1 have not the title deeds
here "
PEN, ink, and paper can supply them"
Writing materials were brought, and the |
Prince engaged in writing to transfer to Sir |
James, if he were the winner, the title of his |
domain upon the VOlga. |
The bet WAS to be decided by ten shots.
They drew lots for the first fire, and the Prince |
won, and took his place |
About twenty feet before him were placed, |
in circular line, five small cages, twelve feet |
apart, each containing pigeon. Cords were |
attached TO the trap-dOors which closed the |
cages, and were sufficiently long to reach the |
spot where the marksmen stood, which was |
called the post.
These cords, by the rules Of the game, were /
to be placed in the hands Of the adverse party,
who always stood behind the marksman; and,
while the latter had his eye intently fxed
upon the cords, his antagonist was permitted
to sgitate them, and TO feign to pull before
doing so thus it was impossible TO foresce on
which side the shot was to be directed; yet, |
it was necessary to aim quickly, for the bird,
from its love of liberty, departs instantly, and
with an energetic wing
turf when Rally and the Prince had taken
their position, and the signal was given. The
cords were agitated, and door fell on the
left. The Prince turned his weapon in that
direction and fired
Down ~ cried distinctly, the voice of the
official.
The same stiffness prevailed, when it was
Sir James's turn to FIRE. The trap fell. The
shot followed instantly.
Down" exclaimed the voice again.
''Did you say, Prince, that this estate bor-
ders on the Volga?"
From the balcony of the house you can see
the course Of the riverI'
An explC sion was heard.
Down." said the same voice.
"Thers are magnificent plantations Of young
trees, grouped with infinite srt-delicioQs
fruits, fns peaches"