Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1861-02-09
Valuable Iessof,

country house, and there relnained to the un-
fortunate gamester, out of all his estates, only
n single spot of ground---a small orange plan.
ti,lion---whichhc had carefully excepted from
his other stakes. The winner (for his antag.
onist Throughout had been the same person)
ms an Englishmdn, nphleginatic and ,stoical
IN appcarance, but whose curiosity was .areus.,
cd at the solicitudc of the rash youth for tue:
preservation of a. ,dilopidnted and seemingly
useless grecnhonse, containing a few boxes of
ornngo'trees. :" What are you going to do
with t1 this :" he asked. q" Let us play, for L."
" Never" replied the young man, "This
hood My mother han passed many hours
there with tue. / may die there; may try
to live there but would blow out my bruins
rather than stake on-a card asngle flower of
those trees" !" 1t was just one blossom that
| was about to propose US . stake. Since you
have nothing else, l viii play with you for
that, a simple orange blossom ;Yilltyou con.
sent to it?' {" But what could you wager ON
your side. against a flower, if / should dconscnt
to pty?" "Oh! mere trihe, of course
L. too, would sacrifice little sentimcnt-
Here is an autograph, for Instance, which
viii deposit as wager in the hands of n third
person. The young man laughed, and yield
cd Notwithstanding hi.s fial sentiment, he
saw no proclamation in the Offering of u flower
to Chance, the god who had served him so ILL.,
AS the game w0s about to commence, the
Englishman said to the young Frenohman,
Z" ou swear, on your honor, ifsyou win, to
accept the stake, however ridiculous it may
appear to you p Z" / swear, because l have
confidence in you, my lord" Cards were
brought; the game commenced, and in few
moments the young man had gained the mys-
tcrious AUTOGRAPH. lie received it with some
emotion; but how greatly was it increased,
when he read douuton, ir regular forln of
the aht hundred thous1nu francs that he
had lost The blush of shame mounted to
his face. 1Ie protested he refused; he de-
clarcd that the bargain was null / have
your word of hunor," replied tile English
man, smiling, "The agreement was in ear
nest. If had won, j should have claimed
the orange blossom" I" But mere flower
against a fortune" "You thought more of
your or0ngc.trces, for you would not stake
them, than of the eight hundred thousand
francs. The match was equal" After two
hours of debate, a court of honor, having cx-
amincd into and weighed the affair coolly, de-
cidcd that the Frenchman could accept; sand
he did SO, OH condition that Lord T.
would remain his dearest friend.
--------< ~ ..
GoING, GoINa, GONE !-Thc Philadelphia
hqui~r (}hck' Republican, ut last believes;
the Union is nearly gone. 1t says:
10 the dreary catalogue of secession
States VIC have now to add Louisiana. 1t
was announced some time ago that this State
would go out on Saturday, the twcnty-sixth
of January, and accordingly she went out on
that day, by vote of one hundred and six
teen to seYcntoon. Whatever other element
of foresight disunion may lack, it certainly
shows no want of precision as to time In
nearly all cuscs of secession Thus far it has
been declared beforehand that State would
socede on such day, and on that day the
fatal work has been Invariably accomplished
Every probability was arrayed against the Sc
ccsson of Louisiana, but she has seeded,
and unless the people stimulate the culous
patriotism of Congress, other in,probnbiFtics
of the same disastrous character may be ex,
pectcd on the part Of States much nearer our
own borders.
Texas, too, Notwithstanding all the conf
dent hopes based upon the strong Union feel.
ing there, and excited by She patriotic course
of her conservative Goyernor-Texas is.an-
nouuced by telegraph to be in favor'of scccs-
sion, and prepared to follow the other Gulf
States before the close of another week.
Tho whole sea coast, from Cape Fear to the
Rio Grndc, as the case now stands, is lost to
the Union"
RICHMOND, VA, February 1.-The cor
.respopdcnce bctvcea tho President and Mr.
Tyler was laid before the Legislature to-day,
wherein the President says that the sloop.ot
war Crooklyp was ordered South. previous to
Mr.. Tyer's Interview on an errand of mercy,
but not to South Carolina. ThePresdent al
SO said that he would inquire into tile move i,
nents at Fort Monroe, and would refer the
matter to Congress but that in the meantime
he must execute the laws. j. ~
NoRToLK, January BLY, Yestcrday, a vol
unteer con'pany of this city went down the
rivcron a target excursion. 1hey,selected a
spot upon the beach in the ncighborhooa of
the United Suites Magaziite. Whether it
was thiscircunstancc that alarmed the Fede-
raj officials, or whether they had received sc.
cret orders, is not known, but this morning
our people ascortaincd that the war brig Dol
phin was receiving her armament of powder,
shot, shell, etc, at the Navy Yard, 1t issaiI, n
and generally believed, that shc is to be moor
ed off Fort Nerfolk, tooverawe the people of
Virginia in ease they should see tit to assert
their Independence. ',.-< w.
The garrison of Fortress Monroe, now nun
bering three hundred men, is shortly to be
heavily reinforced by troops from Governor 8
Island, New York Fortress Monroe is the |
largest. best appointed, aud one of, the strong
est of all the limited States forts and tli;a