The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-06-16

TN, 7,17F HEAD OF MY PRO-
FE,SSION.
~ z
IN TWO ca APT D . O.
CHAPTER II.


co,cLupEp.
+. requested, feeling assures,
etu - ,nrocss and excitement, thi' SVne
from ms ens Isolation awaited me. 10 less
in'eres. ,S,,;nntes he made his api,eafahee i.
tnap &c" = ,essiur-rown, and having ooiteo
an osu of the closet, which was oat re-
tne uoo Tor lumber, seated himself on box,
so,nmenced q rather remarkable mono
80 I shall not give il IN detail, out OF
Collaboration for the reader 5 patience. Inc
vic, of il may be briefly extracted, and was
- ,be following effect. Like myself, RAJ
Meaghsr had been picked up by ,ecnia-
TING patron, aud carried off to 81, refers
bnry where, according TO his own account,
he Lad won a mint OF money for bis own
or receiving but a miserable stipend Tor
himself and ungentlemanly treatment into
the bargain. His tyrant was one Aorter,
q cash;ered French officer. Nesgher AS
snred me that he had won for him hum
drea thousand rubles in st Petersburg, and
=. much u,ors AT Noscow--the villain coolly
hayripu the whole Pats hatred to the
man was almost demoniac; and he seemed
possessed with the idea that he should be
driven to murder him before their contract
was expired, and which had yet two years
TO run. Ny affection for Crannel, as the
reader knows, was somewhat OF the same
stamp; and by way of consoling each other,
we mutually mathematical the villains who
had vs. in their grasp.
But Nesphsr was not content with ours
ing his enemy; he had q plan which he had
long been revolving in his mind, and which
his encounter with me would enable him to
carry OUT he proposed at once, and with
An almost savage vehemence, that we should
turn the tables upon our tyrants, and, as
they had SO long done by US, enrich our
selves at their expense. The thing could be
easily done; we had only to get clever
confederate Of our own, and then, Disregard
ing the private signals Of our patrons sell
them at the beat price ~ecould, by winning
or losing to suit our own Interests. Inc
scheme struck me as excellent, as well from
its simplicity as from the retributive justice
it involved, and agreed to it eagerly and
at once.
Then bo here tomorrow said Pat, by
seven in the morning; by that time, | snail
have seen the right man, and, bedad, we IL
work the oracle in future on our own &C
count.
Soon after seven next morning, Meagher
and | were fleeing along the road to st
Cloud, to the residence OF N. Florian, who
had entered into the scheme, aud with
whom we were to concert measures for put
ting il into execution. N Floriau was h
model dandy of that era-of graceful hg-
ure, exquisite manners, and fine accomplish
mathematician, artist, lingust, and GAM
bier, the idol of the sex, and tho most care
less, agreeable, and good-humored rattle
pa te in the world. He received US in an
elegant saloon, hung with the mastery pro-
duetions of his own pencil, sung us an ope-
ratio air to his own accompaniment, ar
ranged our little plan on the simplest
grounds and the most liberal terms, gave us
his note of hand for round sum to fall due
in a few weeks ordered up grand dJeuner
and, that discussed, drove us as far back as
Auteuil in his own carriage.
The reader may perhaps suspect that N.
Florian was little to be relied on; II so, he
is mistaken. The honor that exists among
-abem among gentlemen Of certain pur-
suits, is as spotless as the snow, and is
rare violated. Pending the whole dura-
ton Of our threefold contract, Plorian be-
haved with the rectitHde Of a judge in er-
mine, and the precision OF banker.
Affairs now began to take different
course. The great billiard contest between
the Russian and the Englishman was re-
newed almost nightly in the presence Of the
fist amateurs Of the capital. Agreeable to
our plan, we both of us ignored the signals
Of our patrons whenever Florian gave any
signal of his own, and thus turned the
whole current OF success into his treasury.
Meanwhile, Florian played lis game so
adroitly, that he was rarely seen to win
more than trife, and was seen as often to
lose. This state OF affairs had not continu-
ed long before Crannel began to lock dag
gers at me whenever we met it private; and
at length, not being able to refrain any
longer, taxed me with treachery. denied
the charge, and insisted that he should pit
me against some other antagonist; could
not be sure of the Russian, who wa. al
ways developing new strength. Ny pat
ron wa. evidently perplexed, and for a
time he RETAINED from betting, but watch
ed me, as was well aware, ali the closer
/ had reason to suspect, moreover, that he
bad set spies upon my path when | went
abroad, though what was the extent Of his
discoveries never knew.
saw Meagher but rarely in private, and
then only at the hours before the dawn,
when could steal away from the observa-
ton of my prying valet, whose grog had |
TO dose more than once in order to prevent |
his watchfulness. Our scheme answered |
famousIy. We had divided Ave thousand
pounds with Florian in three months. and |
vastly to the delight of Pat, most of il had |
come out Of Mortier Q pockst-snd we were |
at last on the road to fortune. | am of
opinion that il Crannel had not by this |
time some certain knowledge of our secret
confederacy, he had at least 80 far verified
his suspicious as to feel conscious that the
contract by which he nominally retained
my services was no longer Of any sdvan-
tage to him. But this double game was
fast approaching to its end.
One night, Meagher's patron, Mortier,
who came to the cafe where we played with
the scowl Of iend on his brow, and in
state of furious excitement, rs was always
the case when he drank freely, began to
vociferate violently and to bet heavily on
his protege. nj. Florian, who was present,
Immediately indicated that was to win,
and accepted all Nortier's proffered bets, in
addition to those he had already made. 1t
CHANGED that he had scarcely accepted these
pledges, when one OF those accidents which
are always contingent on the board of green
Goth, and which the most experienced play
ers cannot always guard against, gave Mea-
CHER such decided advantage in the game
should, and would, under ordinary circum-
stances, have secured his winning il. Nor
tier now redoubled his Glamour, and offered |
very heavy odds, challenging the whole |
room to accept them. Florian instantly did |
so, and they were accepted also by Crannel
to very unusually large amount. The I
game went on, and | recovered nv lost
ground so far that. as it drew towards the
close, had scored as many points as nv
opponent, and two points more scored by
either of US would win the game. 1t was
Meagher's turn to play, and his ball being |
under the cushion, he gave miss, which, |