Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-06
THE QUEEN OF SPADES.

! LHt olnCcTS uhucf his command from at
tending the Union club. where gamhlin.
is extensively carried on, and following
upon the order Of Chancellor Bismarck il
1876 closing all public gambling places il
Germany, has led to many discussion
As To the extent to which gaming Is CARRIE
on in other parts Of the world. Tn,
chinese gamble for every thing and the
| Italians and Spaniurls are not far benin,
them. \ short time ago some gentlemen
were enjoying "A glass of hot punch
| when the conversation turned upon
gambling in Russia An old diplomatic
| who had resided "A number uf Years in IT
! Petersburg. being one Of the com pany
aNcrrei that the mania which puss,.~stt
Tn" military circles. rs well as the whole
ArIstocracy, during his stay in the C"un
try, was something terrible. An officer
he said, who did not gamble received n,
credit for il, and the public man who did
not now and then run the risk Of being
ruined was considered To be a stingy frl
low, who was lightly esteemed by his
aquulntanCrs. IrHrtrending tales are
! toll in Russia OF the sacrifices men have
made to avoid the suciety stigma Of par
! slInuniuusncss, 50 that no surprise WAS
oppressed when il was rep"rted that such
| and such an officer had gone to the eau
caSus to meet certain death. or had blown
out his brains, or that such a prince had
stolen the family diamonds OF such a civil
officer had cmbezzled public funds.
Il know of an instance of less vulgar
| ending, continued the speaker. but
truthfully showing the straits To which a
| liberal player in Russia was once reduced.
AT grand ball on one occasion. tu
! which | had been invited. "A lady was
| pointed out TO ME as the Princess Angus
| tinOf "a name | shall use here, as her real
name is too well known in Russia to intro
duce into newspaper article She was
n charming woman in spite Of her age,
still pleasing through her well l-stored mind
and faultlesS manners. Look at her
straight and elegant figure, exclaimed my
| companion; she walks like n queen. Her
complexion is rs fresh and her eyes as lus-
| truus as young girls, while her white
| hair surrounds her face like silver dia
| dem. She Is going to dance, and none
! Will surpasS her in grace Of movement or
! enjoyment of the occasion. Now let me
! tell you her history. Her maiden naHG
| was Mary --. She was married for her
| beauty, although this was not her only at
traction, her family being wealthy and i'm
pOrtant. She had been selected rs maid Of
honor To the CZarina, who WAS greatly at
| tached 10 her Her marriage at Is was,
therefore, the natural consequence Of pos
Sessing much beatty and wealth and hold
ing high Position. PeterhOff talsO not
| his real namej. her husband. was fine
| officer, having reached the grade of major
general at an aye when most officers are
serving rs captains and lirUtenaDts. The
ear highly esteemed the tall, studiuuS
and serious officer. whom he knew to pos
sess most sterling qualities But he did
play! He was often rallied about il. and
the car himself had one day expressed
wonder thereat, saying: Well. general, it
seems you never amuse yourself at cards,
PcterhOff, shaking his head. replied he
had no taste for gaming. Not for prefer
enCe,' inquired the car. Come, general
let us have "A game Of preference This
was an invitation not to be refused, but so
great an aversion had the officer to gam
bling that he did not even know the rules
of the game. Not know the rules for
preference exclaimed the czar, coughing
You must learn them, my dear general
\ little play drives off ennui There's Au-
gustiuuff, who has reached the apex of
perfection i'll preference. He must instruct
you
Accordingly the young officer, in spite
of himself, was handed over to be initiated
into the horrors of the gambling table
AugustinOf was the best player at court
prudent, skillful and opaque-a man to be
avoided at cards. He did not, however,
always win, but losses seemed to have no
depressing effect upon him nor gains to
awaken feelings of satisfaction. Being
one of the largest landowners i'll Russia
administering his estate with rare ability
he spent his revenues generously and with
out regret. His peasantry were said to be
the happiest i'll Russia. Stories were re
lated of his kindness, after a bravely con
tested game, in permitting his adversary
20 win back his fortune without losing his
amour prOpre.
The czar, therefore, could not have Sc
leCted better teacher for his favOrite
general than Augustinof. He undertook
NTH real zeal the instruction of PeterhOff
put he could never infuse into his mind
his own GOODNESS and prudence Peter
hOT was hot Ut-headed, and played with
dash which oftentimes made his games
famous for the amount Of his winnings
and losses. Ii would have been better for
him had he lost constantly, rs his sue
cesses made him Over-cOntident. Gam
bling in a short time became a mania
with him. and had it been necessary he
would have paid men to play with him
On the occasion am about to describe he
was found late in the evening at the gam
ing table, where he had passed most of
the day. He had won from his adverse
ries without interruption. Piled up be
fore him WAS about 10000 rubles, not to
speak OF the no promises to pay from
brother officers. In n burst Of eXultatiun he
exclaimed: 1 will stake my days earnings
upon the chance Of a single game"
How much'' inquired Augustinoff,
who had just entered the room
Three hundred thousand rubles in
round numbers
~ accept your offer exclaimed the i'm
perturbable AuguStinUff.
although accustomed to see high play
ing" said my informant, this surpassed
everything had before witnessed The
stakes were enormous, the players re
puted the best in Russia. The game for
some time was equally well conducted
After an hour or two Gen. Peterhoff was
noticed to move toward Augustinoff IOO,-
90 rubles; little later he turned to a
friend and said 'Vovolith, please pay to
Augustinoff the 5000 rubles won from
you this afternoon and not long after
'Passerof, the 5000 from you, also
Hardly had the night reached the hour of
when the bewildered general had lost
every ruble Of his days earnings.
Now for retaking the citadel, he ex-
claimed.
What's the sum- inquired Augustinoff
calmly.
Three hundred thousand rubles'
but
~'Is it too much' It's not enough It's
only ynnr rrnins OF the ayaninu. Xnn nnrht