Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1860-04-14
GAMBL1Na1Ts CONSEQUENCES.

GAMBLING-ITS CONSEQUENCES.
lie Marquis Angelo Foscarini was the last o
J his name and title-One of the oldest families
in Naples. lie had been travelling for hi
health for the last three years, when his ply
sicians recommended Dieppe to him, as al
other places had failed in restoring his strength
This occurred in the month Of July, some few
years since.
His daughter accompanied him; the NOS
beautiful Of Italy daughters where there arr
so many competitors for the prize Of lowell
ness
Olympia was an only child get the marqui.
had been married four times.
Devoured by ambition and pride, he could
not even from her conceal his annoyance about
her sex for now his name, which had beer
handed down in the direct line for four cen
turics, would perish with himself He would
freely have given his immense fortune twice
over, his life, his chid'S life, all, to have pos
scSScd son who would hand down his name
to poSterity.
At sixty he was the wi1owcr Of two Roman
ladies Of high descent, and Of German lrln.
cess, and all three had died without his wish
being accomplished. lie was old now, and
worn by the intrigucs of place and ambition
He felt himself going; death stood before him
every moment more vi,ibly, and to try and
conceal the painful act from his view, this last
Of the FoScarlni endcavorcd bv gaicticS and
pleasures to crown himself with the semblance
of youth. lie raised around him rampart Of
.dehauchcrieS, orgies, aud gambling hc lInny
millionsaway, and when, by accident n thought
of his child came across him, it was in bitter
ness Of spirit.
"a woman! a woman he exclaimed
There will always remain II sufficient fnrtun,
for her, child Of eighteen What would sht
do with all my palaces? She would be af
frighted by the heaps of gold which had ac
| cumuatrd for son! On. on, let us amuSt
ourselves while We may. shall, perhaps,
die tomorrow.
-kncM why her father lived thus
lie did not spare her the knowledge Of why h,
was so reckless. Without pity towards her
not caring for how much he panied her heart
he was constantly rcproaching her as the callst
of all. Cursing her and her dead mother, he
cared not how much she, who so trndcrly
loved him, behcld the unsightly wounds of his
ambitious heart and when he saw her in tears
his only resource was to leave her alone, to
weep in the bittereSt sorrow n child might
know, arising from fathers cruelty. And
yet FoScarini loved his daughter, not as faith.
er should have done, but as something belong.
ing to himself-as something beautiful, the
most exquisite OF his possessions, n handsome
piece of furniture-hs own. This was the
reason why he always kept her with him,
made her travel everywhere he went, and re-.
fused her hand in marriage to the wealthiest
mobiles Of Austria and Italy.
Stay with me, )" he said. 81 Iwant to have
M, No,, II, 4 II
When his fcveriSh nights of excitement had
passed, broken down and trembling from a
debauch of wine and gambling, he was in the
habit of going to the baths, or seeking in the
wave renewal OF vigOr to pursue an existence
capable of killing strong man of twenty, and
yet he was too unhappy to relinquish the cx-
citemcnt
One day he cndeavorcd to bathe alone, with.
out his attendant, when the tide was coming
IN; but weaker than usual, he was carried
away, and then flung in fainting fit upon
the beach. The next wave was taking him
away to certain destruction, when young
man, who was bathing, swan to his senseless
form, and bore him to land in safety.
When FOScarini opened his eyes, nc turned
to thank the one who had saved him, and, to
his annoyance, recognized an officer from
Trabans whom he had met at the baths OF
Pyrmont and Vienna, and whose as>ilutics
towards Olympia had given him much unca-
sincSs.
y few words Of cold thanks and politeness
were exchanged, and the young German ask
cd permission to call sometimes at the mar.
quis' hotel.
lie WAS frigidly told that hc might do so.
At the end of month the marquis and Ste
phcn had become inscparablc
Still madly in love with Olympia, the latter
was, however, too clever this time to manifest
it so openly as he had done at pvrmont. lie
allow cd Foscarini to think that he was cured
of his passion. lie spoke to Olympia without
trembling or turning pale, and with perfect
ease of manner, addressed few commonplace
compliments 10 her, to which she replied in
the same Indifferent tone.
Quite blinded, the old man unsuspcouSlv
yielded himself into the others hands. lie
made him his companion and contidant, and
raised the curtain before him which had con-
ccalcd all his past life, and revealed the hor-
rorS which had been hidden beneath the
Splcndor and garlandS Of his tci,s Stephen,
however, knew it already; Olympia had con-
ccalrd nothing from him. For two whole
years he had followed in the track of FOScarini
and his daughter. Thus Stephen passed al.
most every night at the marquiS'S, and to
meet his tastes, and, Mt the same time. if pos.
Slblc, keep him from going among strangers,
he became a seeming gambler, to restrain the
real one.
During month he had played away all the
money he possessed about him and all he could
borrow, and the more he lost the better FoS-
carin loved him, for the marquis knew no hap.
plncss but in dice, 10 pleasure save in win.
ming
But luck changed.
lhe marquis had n passion for n sort Of loo
called houilottc, which Stephen affected to like
equally well. 1t had already cost him ten
thousand louis; when one evening he arrived
at the marqni>'S half an hour earlier than
usual, with the last fifty louis he could then
command in the world and firmly resolved
that if he lost them, he would no longer carry
on the fearful game he had been playing, but
at once throw off the mask of fhyrocriSv, and
demanding Olympia again in marriage from
her father, cndcavOr by other means to win
him from his love Of gambling II she were
refused to him, he felt all the desperation
would seize upon him which was natural to n
young man like himself, who had vainly sought
the one he had loved so long.
F"Scarini and Stephen were seated oppoSitc
to each other. At their loo table there was n
Partisan banker, an English naval officer, and
two planters from Havana Stakes were i'm.
mcnsc. Stephen commenced by ten louis.
then ten more, again the same and then the
same. All were lost. He trcmbed Fosca.
rini laughed at the smallncss of his stakes
a.