The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1880-12-17

:, bv itself surrounded by stone walls. A
), we crossed the front-garden on our wa,
|. to the door, l noticed against the sid
of the house two kennels, inhabited b,
= two large watch-dogs. Was the pro
: prietor afraid of thieves2
= The moment we were introduced II
! the drawing-room my suspicious Of tn.
company we were likely to meet will
were fully confirmed.
"Cards, billiards and betting "-ther,
! was the inscr;sption legibly wristen OIL
the manner ard appearance OF captain
Peterkin. The bIight-eyed, yellow old
lady who kept the boarding house
would have been worth five thousand
pounds in jewelry alone, if the orna.
ments which fprofusely covered her
had been genuine precious stones. The
younger ladies present had their cheeks
as highly rouged and their eyelids as
deliberately penciled in black as If they
we're going on the stage, instead of 60
ing to dinner We found these fair
creatures drinking Madeira as whet
to their appeites. Among the men,
there were two who struck me as the
most finished and complete blackguards
whom l had ever met with in all my ex-
perience, at home or abroad. One. with
. brown face and broken nose, was pre-.
sented to us by the title of "Com-
mander," and was described as a person
OF great wealth and distinction in Peru,
travelling for amusement. The other
wore military uniform and decorations,
and was spoken Of as "The General"
A bold, bullying manner, fat, sodden
face, little leering eyes, and greasy
looking hands, made this man SO repel-
lent to me that L privately longed to
kick him. Romayne had evidently been
announced, before our arrival, as .
landed gentleman with large income.
Men and women We'd in servile atten-
tions to him. When we went into the
| dining-room, the fascinating creature
who sat next to him held her fan before
her face, and so made a private inter-
view of it between the rich Englishman
and herself. With regard to the dinner
/ shall only report that it justified Cap
tain Peterkin's boast, in some degree at
least. The wine was good, and the con-
versation became gay to the verge OF in
delicacy. Usually the most temperate
Of men, Romayne was tempted by his
neighbors into drinking freely. I was
unfortunately seated at the opposite e1-
tremity OF the table, and I had no op-
portunity oiswarning him. The dinner
reached its conelusicuF ands we agrre-
turned together, on the foreign plan,
to coffee and cigars in the drawing
room. The women smoked and drank
liquors as we'll as coffee, with the men.
One of them went to the piano, and q
little improptu ball followed, the ladies
dancing with their cigarettes in their
mouths. Keeping my eyes and ears on
the alert, saw an innocent-lookins
table, with surface of rosewood, sud.
denly develop a substance Of green
cloth. At the same time neat little
roulette table made its appearance from
hiding place in sofa. Passing near
the venerable landlady, heard her ask
the servant, in whisper, I" if the dogs
were loose?" After what had OBJ
served, 1 could only conclude that the
dogs were used as a patrol to give the
alarm in case of descent by the police.
1t was plainly high time to thank Cap
tain Peterkin for his hospitality, and to
take our leave.
"We have had enough of this" I
whispered to Romayne in English. "Let
us CO."
In these days il is delusion to sup
pose that You can speak confdentiauy
in the English language when French
people are within hearing. One of the
ladies' asked Romayne tenderly if he
was tired of her already. Another re-
minded him that it was raining heavily
Iss We could all hearl, and suggested
waiting until it cleared mp. The hideous
General waved his greasy hand in the
direction OF the card-table, and said !:
. The game is waiting for u.s."
Romayne was excited. but not stupe-
led, by the wine he had drunk. He an
,wered, discreetly enough "I must
beg you to excuse me; 1 am poor
'ard-plsyer."
The General suddenly looked grave.
: You are speaking, sir, under d strange
he said. "Our game
s lansquenet, essentially a game of
chance. With luck, the poorest player
s match for the whole table"
Romayne persisted in his refusal. As
matter of course, 1 supported him,
With all needful care to avoid giving
,ffense. The General took otIense,
nevertheless. He crossed his arms on
lis breast, and looked at US fiercely.
"Does this mean, gentlemen, that |
-ou distrust the company ?" he asked. I
he broken-nosed Commander, hearing
he question, Immediately joined us, in {
he interests OF peace-bearing with i
i'm the elements of persuasion, under a
he form of a lady on his arm. c
The lady stepped briskly forward, and b
apped the General ON the shoulder with |
er fan. al am one of the company" a
he said "and l am sure Mr.. Romayne {
oesn't distrust me?" She turned to
.omayne with her most irresistible d
mile. "a gentleman always plays /
ards" she resumed, ''when he has a
.dy for partner. Let us join our in h
...,.., n, ,ba tabla-and dear Mr. Ro Il