Omaha daily bee., 1874-06-04
A NIGHT WITH GAMBLERS.
"reminiscences of a Visit to the
City of Mexico.

solfle cuTlous auNentureS,
few strange acquaintance. One O
the last was a middle-aged man
with whom 1 first spoke, one after
noon, at a bull-fight in NecatiIaI
Square.
a strong feeling of friendship
speedily sprang up between us, ant
with Don Jaime Mercado-as he in
troduced himself-as guide, L hac
little difficulty i'm finding means o
passing away the time. And with
him as companion one night
found myself cautiously treadine
the Callejon del Argo, or .'BlinC
alley of the Arcade,p long notori-
Gus as one of the most dangerou.
places i'm the Mexican Capital. The
dense mass of houses, of which the
Merchants Arcade forms a part
known as the Impedradillo, does
not form one compact street. On
the southwestern side of the Cathe-
dral a narrow lane runs into the
Impedradillo this is called the Cal.
lejon del Arco. 1t is like one OF
those caverns which the sea some
times hollows out i'm the face of q
cliff.
Even i'm the day time, when the
SUMS rays pouring down upon the
square are almost binding, this
alley is dark, gloomy, forbidding.
Advance within it, though only a
few PAGES, and you seem precipita-
ted into the shades of night. An
involuntary chill creeps over you,
by no means lessened as you catch
a glimpse of a shadowy figure lurk-
ing in an archway, closely shroud.
ed i'm cloak and sombrerO, the black
evil eyes watching your every mo.
ton. Then there is an unhealthy
dampness around you; water is con-
stantly OoZing out of the walls; un-
der foot it is wet and Shiny; almost
unconsciOusly comes the terrible
fancy that one is treading in the
gore of the countless victims whose
lives have ended here.
Yet through this alley Don Jaime
Mercado guided niche with drawn
sword, L with cooked revolver.
Three several times we closely hug
ged the mildewed walls, our wea-
pons pointing outward, to await
the passing of some suspicious char
acter. Either these gentlemen were
wronged by our suspicious, or else
they did not like cold steel or hot
lead, since they quietly passed us
by, though edging close to the fur
ther wall.
At length Don Jaime paused be-
fore a heavily ironed door, striking
three loud blows upon it with the
pommel of his sword. Almost i'm
mediately this opened, and a porter,
bearing a lantern, held the light up
to u faces, Evidently satisfied,
he raped a signal upon the door
behind him, which also promptly
opened.
This revealed a long, steep flight
of stairs, up which we tramped.
Here a serge curtain, surmounted
by a transparency bearing the le-
gend, ."Sociedad Filarmonica,"
swung noiselessly aside, and We
were i'm one of the most fashionable
gambling hells in the city Of Next
co. For a minute the brilliant light
dazzled me, and | could distinguish
nothing else than a low, indistinct
hum, mingled with the click of the
roulette balls, and the more musical
jingle of golden coin.
The hall was of extraordinary di=
mansions, lighted by hundreds of
wax tapers. Two dozen long. green
baiZe-covered tables were surroun-
ded by the eager devOtees Of for
tune; this much l saw, then was in
troduced to tie proprietor of the
hall, a dapper little Frenchman
whose name | have forgotten.
He was extremely polite and at
tentive, leading us to the elegantly
fitted-up sideboard, pressing u to
partake Of the sparkling wines and
luscious fruit. He soon left us, how
ever, to greet some other visitors,
and then we joined the crowd
around n OF the tables.
1t was devoted to rouge ct nOir,
with its circles of de~vOtees, who
came night after night to tempt for
tune, one moment tingling with a
wild, delicious joy as the tickle flame
deigns to smile upon them, the mex
plunged into the depths of despair
as the crouper's rake transfers the
g~littering offering to the wrong side
of the table.
"See," whispered Don Jaime int
my ear, "observe that the lady IL
black, she with the lace mask, WHIT
places her little pile on the rec
double zero with such a queenly
air. That is Sonora de los D
Ten months since she was the lido
of her husband, who possessed al
most princely wealth, but the manis
seized her. She visited the table.
nightly, losing enormously, giving
orders upon her husband for the
amounts, which were gladly taken,
for Don D., everybody knew,
would sacrifice his last thaco rather
than dishonor his name by refusing
payment. Her husband soon dis
covered the truth and paid her
debts, but there was a stormy scene
between them, it is said, and two
days afterward he was found dead
i'm the street, slain by the stroke of 6
cuchillo in the hands of a hired
bravo. The truth is not known fol
certain, but many believe that sh,
paid for the murder. Since ther
she has been a nightly visitor here
losing almost constantly. The las
of her husbands property is sold
and when that Is goue-well, shl
has a choice, to be sure-the suicide
grave, or-the pave"
AT the next table a Californian o
swart features and sinister aspect
not lessened by the strips of cour
plaster that diagonally cross his fac
from eye TO jawbone, deals mont
for the s'benefit" of the moths VIII,
iutter around the golden piles il
momentary expectation of RAISING
them first into their pockets ; but
alas! though riches have wings
they do not fly I'm that direction.
The low cries "Caballo en- la puer
ta!" Soto mozo!" at intervals, an
nounce in set phrase the progress O
the game. The golden stakes ar
transferred from hand to hand, thei
sharp, metallic click contrasting
with the soft, rapid shuttle of tn
cards. But then the betting almos
ceased, when a man pushed himsel
forward and seated himself i'm from