Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-05
CHAPTER IT.


 As the door swung back became conscious first of a flood of light that completely dazzled my eyes. next of tho buzz of many voices that confused my hearing.
 | l stood in a large room furnished after the fashion of drawing-room, and resplendent with candles and gliding. The carpet was rich, the walls were hung with pictures, and between these gittered a quantity of gilded mirrors that caught and reflected the rays of a huge candelabrum depending from the centre ! of the ceiling. Innumerube wax candles also l shone in various parts of the room, while here and there rich chairs and sofas were disposed {; | but these were for the most part unoccupied | Tor the guests were clustered together beneath | the great candeabrum.
 | They were about thirty in number, and from their appearance judged them 10 belong to very different classes of society. There was also sprinkling of women and not a few wore masks of some black stuff concealinS the up- l per part of their faces
 But the strangest feature of the compapy w'ls that one and all were entirely and even 1 roathlcssly watching the table in their midst. | ENrn the idlest scarcely raised his eyes to greet us as We entered, and for q moment or | two l paused at the door one who had no l business with this strange assembbage. The guests were grouped around tho table, some sitting and others standing behind their l | and at its head sat the most extraordinary l woman it had ever been my lot to behold. | She was of immense age and so wrinkled that i her tnce seemed very network of dcer]y- printed lines. Her complexion, even in the candlc-light was of a deep yellow, such ns is rarely seen in the most jaundiced faces. Despite her age, her features were bold and l bore traces of rare beauty outlioed her eyes were of deep yet glttering black, and as l tlaV HnShnI from tb,N taH tc b, fo, nF | guests, seemed never to wink or change for an instant their look of intense alertness But what was most noteworthy in this strange woman was neither her evrs hor wrinkles nor her curious color but the amaz- ing quantity of jewels she worc. As she sat there beneath the glare of the candelabrum. she posi,,vely blaZed with gems. With every motion of her quick hands hundred points l of fire l. pt out from the diamonds on her ! in Is; WI .u every turn of her wrinkled neck tho 'Sht pt! ed upon innumerablc facets and all "t'...~ those cold, lustrous eyes scintil- lated ;. brightly ns the stones. She was en- gagged in he game as entered. and turned her gaze upon Us for m ii'stnnt only but thai momentary flash so cold, so absolutely unhuman, th"t l doubted fl I looked upon reality. The whole assembly seemed rather ikea room full of condemned spirits with this woman sitting presiding iudgo.
 As ws still stood by the door a hush fell on the company: mcu and women seemed to 1 catch their breath and bcrd more intently over tho table There WIS pause; then some one called the number ''rhirty-one," and the | buzz of voices broke out stsyain--:, mixture of exclnmations and disappointed murnlur,. Then, and not till then, did the woman at the head of tho table speak, and when she spoke her words were addressed to us
 Come in, genilcmen come in. You have. not chosen your moment well, for the bank , Is Winning: but you none the less well como"
 Thus welcomed we. too, stepped forward to the centre of the room and began to watch the game.
 Tho table, which have described as ol- long. ~ss linod to the width of about a foot around tlis edge with green baize and on this weTr rilH.l hcarS of gold and silver, some greater. sen.e less. Sunk in the centre was d we'll i'll which lnrge needle revolved upon n pivot at the turn of the hand. The whole i looked like a large ships compass, but instead ot north. south. east and west the table around the well, and at u level with the com pass. was marked out into alternate spaces of red and black. bearng, one on each space the oguE~s from to SC, and ending at 0, so that in Ll thars were 37 spaces the one bearing the eipker being opposite to the strange woman Tho ps~sided. As the game began again the playsrs staksd their money on one or another ef these spaces. 1 ulso gathered that they souId stake on either black or red, or again on enc of she Arco dozens-l to 12, 13 to 25, 25 to s6. Whon ai the money was staked the wo- mah bent forward, and with a sweep of her hand sent tho needle spinning round upon its mission.
 Thrice she did this, thrice the eager faces bent over the revolving needle, and each time gathered from tho murmurs around me that the eank had won heavily. At the end of the shird round the hostess looked up and said to Loveday:
 You have been here before, and. if Ire- member rightly, were unfortunate. Come and cit near me when you have chance. and por. haps you may break this run of luck. Even am tiring ot it. Or, better still, get that darl, handsome friend of yours to stake for vou Have you ever played before Ps' she asked 1 turning to mo N' i shook ny head.
 "All the better, Fortune always favors h>- ginners, and if it does shall be w,ll racon- pensed to have so handsome a youth hcsida me, and with this she turned to the eame again, eA''
 At her right sat gray-headed man with