Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-05-14
A WOMAN'S CURSE.

said gentleman to reporter of the San
Francisco, Cal, Alta recently, in Golden
Gate Park, ''engage that gray haired man
in conversation, and get him to tell you his
history; it will repay you for your time, +"
and he indicated u prematurely aged man,
with sad face, sitting in the sun on one of
the benches of the park. The reporter
needed no second invitation, and was soon
seated by the man with the history.
'l ain told" said the seeker after facts,
that you have life story strange in the eX-
treme, and that you are not averse to re-
lating it,"
The eyes of the man were turned on the
speaker moment, and then folding his
white hands in his lap he said:
Eyes, it is story. l am murderer and
reformed gambler; but you need not
shrink SO from me, for the murder was not
Intentional. Ten years ago | owned the
largest and most popular gambling par.
day nights l dealt my own faro game.
Many unpleasant incidents grew cut of
my business, but l always excused it
on the ground that men did not have to
play my games any more than they were
obliged to drink poison. | finally got to
noticing and expecting one young man ID
particular, who always came when it was
my night to deal. At first he played boldly,
and as consequence lost heavily, but as he
grew more familiar with the game eplayed
carefully, and acted as though life depended
on his winning, whch in fact was the case
as it afterward proved. got acquainted
with him, addressed bim as Brown, but knew
that that was not his true name. | think
be followed the game for months, winning
little sometimes, but generally losing
heavily. At last he came one night, and l
saw by his flushed face that he had been
drinking, although he looked apparently
cool. He sat down to the table, drew out
a small roll of money, and laying it down
before him, said: There is in that little pile
my fortune, my honor and my life. either
win all or lose all this night. Begin
your game, l am ready. Others joined
in and played for awhile, but finally with
drew from the game and watched the
strange young man at my right. Heplayeu
to win, but fate was against him, for he lost,
won and lost again, and finally, after two
hours of playing, evidently in the most fear
full of suspense, had lost his last dollar
Leaning back in his chair, with compressed
lips and face blanched to a deathly white
ness, u6 lOOhSu luc III VIC cy a.
and rising said: My money, honor and hap
piness have gone over that table, never TO
return. I said my life would so with them,
and it shall. Tell my wife had gone too
far to return Before we could prevent it,
he put Derringer to his breast and shot
himself through the heart, falling upon the
| table that had been his ruin and death.
His wife came, awful in the majesty of
| her grief, and after satisfying herself that
| her husband was dead, she asked: Whore
| is the keeper of this dreadful place? l
was pointed out, and striding up to me so
| that her finger almost touched my palld
| face, she exclaimed, in tones that are ring
| ing in my ears yet: oh you souless
! wretch with heart of stone! You have lur-
| ed my husband from me, sent him to perdi-
| ton, widowed me and orphaned my child
rem. You are his murderer, and may Gods
curse rest upon you eternallyn And with
a wild scream, oh? my husband my child
rem = she fell fainting on the body of the
corpse,
II fingered for weeks in brain fever,
that curse seeming always to my mind. On
my recovery I burned the fixtures of my
den, and closed the place, and have devoted
most of my time to travel, with the hope Of
escaping that woman's just curse, but |
can't; believe it is on me forever, and
feel that was that mans murderer. am
rich, and my first attempt was to get the
dead mans wife to accept an annuity from
me, but she refused all aid and tried TO
support herself by her own labor. re-
lieved my mind to some extent, however,
by settling certain sum on her and her
children, which passes through her fathers
hands, and ostensibly comes directly from
him. Her children are receiving fine ed
ucation by this means, and my will, safely
locked in her fathers office, bequeaths to
her and her children my entire wealth,
some 100000. My life" concluded he, us
devoted largely to visiting gambling dens,
where 1 meet young men who are on the
highway to hell, and warn them of their
danger. Thanks be to God, have succeed
ed in many cases in saving them; and now
Young man, remember this story and let it
always stand up as white spectre between
YOU and the gambling table. See to it that
the poison does not enter your veins;" and
he pulled his hat over his moistened eyes
and strobe silently away.