Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-05-01
Rally leaned 'bac / Is his cbair. loot;ir


II Rally leaned back in his chair, looking
with indifference on, the table. at the heap
Iof gold, to which the hands of the Prince
were eagerly entended., Fl
The, joy Of Gouloubskof amounted to
intoxication you Sillinot quit playing,
hope. Sir James. he said can Eng.
lishman never abandons the field of bat
tle.' '4+sFA 'Sz s.ss sssS&
Never. Prince! nor Russian either.
Is it not so ?H333N 12E0ll aaH
1t,issa national prejudice;wsith us but
perhaps You would like to. change the
game. Will-faro for two suit you p
Faro let it be."J ds1Ha1
The adyersaries entered the lists again.
The Prince held the bank and gained CO..
600 rubles. His good fortune seemed "a.
sality itself. Yet the perfect calmness Of
the 1Englishman was not less astonish-
ing. He pursued the object with the
impassability of his compatriots be.
fore the French battalions of Water.
loo when Wellington. seeing his soldiers
fall one after the other. took his watch !;
and said 'They die at SO many mi.
mute; l have yet such number Of men /;
it will be anshour before the last one falls;
Boucher will have time TO arrive the
victory is mine i
Rally dealt in his turn. This time for.
tune passed over to his side. He gained.
He doubled his stake, and gained again.
He had just gathered up 10000 roubles.
when he announced that he had tripled
his stakes.
The prince was too good player to
recoil. Rally still gained. Gouloubskoff
still played on till he had exhausted all
the gold and notes at his disposal. He
then proposed 10 play on credit. chalking
the stakes upon the table. Rally accept
ed. and gained three times in succession.
BY St. George he cried. Il have
900. 900 roubles.
| congratulate you,' said the Prince.
with nervous contraction of the counte.
nance. He began to suffer.
You will not quit playing. hope,
Prince. A Russian never abandons the
field of battle
Never. Sir James. as I told you. But.
shall we change the game? The air is st.
fling here. Let us 60 into the garden
You have reputation as marksman
suppose we Try shot?
Rally, who saw the feyerish agitation
OF his companion. readily accepted. Be-
| sides. custom required that he should be
at the disposal OF his adversary.
In moment the hall was empty.
What shall be the stake, Sir James 2
Two hundred thousand roubles.'
Agreed, but l have no gold and 1
of Vienna, which is quite indispensable to
me-
Then l will wager 10000 roubles
against one Of your estates
Do you wish to become Muscoyite
proprietor q
1t is mere whim, like any other
Then one which am not disposed to
thwart. | have something Of that value
near Moscow. It is on the declivity Of
hill, from which you see admirably the
smoking, ruins Of the holy city. have
also at two miles from Vologdo-'
Rally shrugged his shoulders : 1t is
too cold,' he said.
"Ah then have something else
which may suit you. q charming little
village near the Volga,'
Here goes for the Volga. then. And
you estimate this properly
At something more than 10000
roubles.'
Then add $4,000 to my stake
Agreed, but have not my title pa.
pers 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 TO his domain on 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.
Abut seventy Eve feet before him were
placed. in circular form, FIVE small ca
ges. 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 a rule of the game,
were to be placed in the hands of the ad.
verse party. who always stood behind the
marksman and while the latter had his
eyes intently fixed upon the cords. his an
tagonist was permitted to agitate them
aud to feign to pull before doing so |;
thus it was impossible to foresee on which
the shot was directed-yet it was neces-
sary to aim quickly. for the bird. from its
love of liberty. departs instantly. and with
an energetic wing.
You might have heard a pin fall
upon the turf when Rally and
the Prince had taken their positions, and
the signal was given. The cords were
agitsted, and door fell on the left. The
Prince turned his weapon in sha. di.
rsction and fred.
: Down + cried distinctly the voice OF