St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-01
JULES VERNE.
NM. nnIQl sNnI
An Absorbing Story by the Greatest
Of French Authors,
FNTITLED:
MATTHIAS SAND0RF.
Translation Copyrighted by G. W. Hanna.
1856
CHAPTER XVII.
A QUICK FOR SARCANY.

A CHECk FOR SARCANY.
Toronthal lost his fear as soon as ne was
seated at the trente-et-quarante table. lhere
was no timidty now about MS play; nc
staked his money like man IN 1urV; AIu
Sarcany watched his every movement ueeply
interested in this supreme Crisis, ueepiy III
terested in this issue.
For the first hour the alterations OF loss
and gain almost balanced each othef, The au-
vantage being on Toronthals SIDE: oarcahy
and he imagined they were sure OF success;
They grew excited, and staked hlgner anu
hipher until they staked only the maximum
But soon the luck returned 10 the inlpertaio-
apIe bank which by this maximum protecIs
its interests in no inconslderaole measure
and which knows no transports OF iony.
Then came blow after blow. The win
nings during the afternoon went heap by
bna9 Toronthal was an awful spectacle;
his face became congested, his eyes grew
haggard. he chung to the table, to his CHAIR
to f6e rolls of notes, and the rouleaux OF
gold that his hand would hardly yield over
With the twitchings and commissions OF a
drowning man! And no one was there 10
sion him on the brink of the chasm! MOI
hand was stretched out to help him! MOI an
effort from Sarcany to tear him from the
Mace before he was lost, before ne hhahy
sank beneath the wave OF rum!
AT 10 o'clock TOronthal had rlsked MS last
stake, his last maximum. lie won! linen
hestaked again-and again-and lost. ana
when he rose, daZed and scared ana nerceIy
wishing that the walls would crumble and
crush the crowd around him. he had nothing
Ieft-nothine of all the millions that hau
been left in the bank when the millions Oh
Count Sandorf had poured in to its ald.
Toronthal. accompanied by Sarcany, who
acted as his gaoer, left the gamlng-r0om'
crossed the hail. and hurried out OF the
Casino. Then they fled across the square 10
the footpaths leading TO La Iuroie.
Point Pescade was already on their traces,
and as he passed had shaken up cape Nlati-
fou as he lay half asleep on his bench with
a shout Of
wake up! Eyes and legs"
And Cape Matifou had come along with
him ON a trail it wOuld not do to lose.
Sarcanv and ToronthaI continued to hurry
on side bv side, and gradually mounted the
paths which twist and wind on the flank OF
The mountain among the olive and orange
gardens. The capriciouS ZigZags allowed
Pescade and Matifou to keep them in view,
although they could not get near enough to
hear them.
.sCome back to the hotel, SilasI' Sarcany
continued to repeat in an imperlouS tone.
"Come back, and be cool againW
s'No! we are ruined! Let us part! l do
not want to see you again! l do not
want"
part? and why? You will follow me,
SiIasI Tomorrow we will leave Morocco!
We have enough to take us to Tetuan, and
there we will finish our workH'
mo! No! Leave me, Sarcany, leave
mem said Toronthal.
And he pushed him violently aside as he
tried to catch hold. Then he darted off at
such speed that Sarcany had some trouble in
keeping up. Unconscious of his acts,
Toronthal at every step risked falling into
the steep ravines above which the wind
ing footpaths lay unrolled. Only one idea
possessed him; to escape from Monte Carlo,
where he had been consummated his ruin, to
escape from Sarcany whose counsels had led
him to misery, to escape without caring
where he went or what became of him.
Sarcany felt that his accomplish was at
last beyond him. that he was going to escape
him! Ali If the banker had rot known
those secrets which might ruin him, or at
least irretrevably compromise the third
game he wished to play, how little anxiety
he would have felt for the man he had
dragged to the brink of destruction! But, be-
fore he fell, Toronthal might give last cry,
and that cry he must stifle at all hazards!
Then from the thought Of the crime on
which he had resolved to its immediate eX-
ecution was only step, and this step Sar-
canv did not hesitate to take. That which
he had intended to do on the road to Tetuan
in the solitudes of Morocco might be done
here, this very night, on this very spot,
which would soon be deserted!
But Just at present between Monte Carlo
and La Turbie few belated wayfarerS
were along the slopes. A cry from Silas
might bring them to his help, and the muir
derer intended the murder to be committed
in such way that it would never be sus-
pected And so he had to wait Higher
I'D. beyond La Turbie and the frontier of
Monaco, along the Corniche clinging to the
lower buttresses of the Alps, 1000 feet
above the sea, Sarcany could strike far
surer blow. Who could then come to his
victims help? How at the foot Of such
precipices as border that road could Toron-
that's corpse be found?
But, for the last time, Sarcany tried to
stop his accomplice and tempt him back to
Monte Carlo.
Come, Silas, come. " said he, Selling him
by the arm. Tomorrow we will begin
again! have some money left"
mo! Leave me! Leave me1' exclaimed
Toronthal with an angry gesture.
And if he had been strong enough to
struggle with Sarcany, if he had been armed,
he might not even have hesitated to take
vengeance OH his old Tripolitan broker for
all the evil he had done him.
With hand that anger made the stronger
Toronthal thrust him aside, then he rushed
towards the last turn of the path and ran
up a few steps roughly cut in the rock be-
tween the little gardens. Soon he reached
the MAN road of La Turbie, along the nac-
row neck which divides the Dogs Head
from Mont Agel. the old frontier line be-
tween Italy and France.
Go then, Silasm exclaimed Sarcany
go! but you will not go far!'
Then turning off to the right he scrambled
over stone hedge, scaled garden wall. and
ran on in front so as to precede Toronthal
along the road.
Pescade and Matifou, although they had
not heard what had passed, had seen the
banker thrust Sarcany away and Sarcany
disappear in the shade.
'''Ehr' exclaimed PeScade. ''Perhaps the
best of them has gone! Anyhow Toronthal
is worth something! And we have no choice!
Come on, Cape; forward awayl'
And in few rapid strides they were close
to Toronthal, who was hurrying up the
road. Leaving to the left the little knoll
with the tower of Augustus, he passed at a
run the houses, then closed for the night
and at length came out on the Corniche.
Point Pescade and Cape Matifou followed
him, less than fifty yards behind.
But of Sarcany they thought no more.
He had either taken the crest of the slope to
The right. or abandoned his accomplice to re-
turn to Monte Carlo.
The Corniche is an old Roman road
When it leaves La Turbie, it drops towards
Nice, running in mid-mountain by mag
niicent rocks isolated cones and profound