Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1874-04-24
A NIGHT WITH GAMBLERS.

A NIGHT WITH GAMBLERS.
In the year 1859 l was sojourning tenn
porarily in the City of Mexico, and hav
ing nearly a month of leisure after salts
fa5torily winding up the business matters
that drove me thither l devoted portion
of it to exploring the darker portion ol
the metropolis, meeting with some curl
Gus adventures, making a few strange &C
quaintances. One of the last was midle
aged man with whom | first spoke one
afternoon at a bull.fght in Necatilar
Square.
A strong feeling of friendship speedily
sprang up between us, and with Dor
Jaime Mercado-as he introduced him
self-as guide l had little difficulty In
finding means of passing away the time
And with him as companion one night
found myself cautiously tre8ding the
Callejon del Arco, or blind alley of the
Arcade" long notorious as one of the
most dangerous places in the Mexican
capital. The dense mass of houses, oi
which the Merchants Arcade forms a
part, known as the Impedradillo does
not form one compact street. On the
southwestern side of the Cathedral mar.
row lane runs into the Impedradillo; this
is called the Callejon del Arco. 1t is
like one of those caverns which the sea
sometimes hollows out in the face of q
cliff.
Even in the daytime, while the suns
rays pouring down upon the square are
almost binding, this alley is dark,
gloomy, forbidding. Advance within it,
though only few PAGES, and you seem
precipitated into the shades of night; an
involuntary chill creeps over you, by no
means lessened as you catch glimpse of
some shadowy figure lurking in an arch
way, closely shrouded in cloak and sombre-
ro, the black, evil eyes watching your every
motion. Then there is an unhealthy
dampness around you; water is constant.
ly oozing out of the walls; under foot
it is wet and slimy-almost unconscious
ly comes the terrible fancy that one is
treading in the gore of the countless vic
tins whose lives have ended here.
Yet through this alley Don Jaime Mer.
cado guided me--he with drawn sword,
with cooked revolver. Three several
times we closely hugged the mildewed
walls, our weapons pointing outward, to
await the passing by of some suspicious
character. 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 further wall.
At length Don Jaime paused before a
heavily. .ironed door, striking three loud
blows upon it with the pommel of his
sword. Almost Immediately this opened,
and a porter bearing lantern held the
light up to our faces. Evidently satisfied
he raped signal upon the door behind
him, which promptly opened.
This revealed a long, steep flight of
stairs, up which we tramped. Here a
serge curtain, surmounted by transpar-
ency bearing the legend "Sociadad Filar-
monica" swung noiselessly aside, and we
were in one of the most fashionable gam.
bling halls of the City of Mexico. For a
minute the brilliant light dazzled me, and
could distinguish little else than low, in
distinct hum, mingled with the click of
the roulette balls and the more musical
tingle of golden coin.
The hall was of extraordinary dimen-
sions, lighted by hundreds of wax tapers.
Two dozen long, green baiZe-covered
tables were surmounted by the eager
devotees of Fortune: this much l saw,
then was introduced to the proprietor of
the hall, dapper little Frenchman whose
name have forgotten.
He was extremely polite and attentive,
leading us to the elegantly f1tted-up side
board, pressing us TO partake of the spark
ling wines and luscious fruit. He soon
left us, however, to greet some other Wis
itors, and then we Joined the crowd around
one OF the tables.
1t was devoted to rouge ct noir, with its
circles of devotees, who came night after
night to tempt fortune, one moment ting
ling with a wild, delicious joy as the
fickle dame deigns to smile upon them,
the next plunged into the depths of de-
spair as the croupier's rake transfers the
glittering offering to the wrong side of
the table.
"See," whispered Don Jaime into my
ear; "observe that lady in black, she with
the lace mask, who places her little pile
on the red double zero with such a
queenly air. That is Sonora de Los
D. Ten months since. she was the
idol of her husband, who possessed al
most princely wealth, but the mania
seized her. She visited the tables night
ly, losing enormously, giving orders upon
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
scovered the truth and paid her debts,
but there was stormy scene between
them, it is said, and two days afterward
he was found dead in the street, slain by
the stroke of cuchillo in the hands of a
hired bravo, The truth is not known for
certain, but many believe that she paid
for the murder. Since then she has been
a nightly visitor here, losing almost con-
stantly. The last of her husbands prop
erty is sold, and when that is gone-well,
there is the suicides grave"
At the next table Californian of swart
features and sinister aspect, not lessened
by the strips of court plaster that dag
onally cross his face from eye TO jaw
bone, deals monte for the benefit" of the
moths who fiutter around the golden
piles in momentary expectation OF rails
ing them first into their own pockets /;
but, alasl though riches have wings, they
do not fly in that direction.
The low cries " Cavalle en- la puerta p
"Soto mozoI" ("The Queen in the gate p'
"The knave winnerp') at intervals an
nounce in set phrase the progress Of the
game. The golden stakes are transferred
from hand TO hand, their sharp, metallic
click contrasting with the soft rapid shuttle
of Che cards. But then the betting almost
ceased when man pushed himself for
ward and seated himself In front of the
benches, while servant deposited an
iron box before his master. When the
lids were thrown back glittering mass
of onzas appeared, causing even the i'm
perturbable dealer to start with wonder
and glance of Joy to fit across his face
two things that had not occurred before
within the manOru Of man