Mohave County miner., 1889-06-29
PAUL JONES'S ALIAS.
BY DAVID CHRISTIE MURRAY.
Axthor of "Joseph's Cont" "Asn. Rae.sl," "Ctni.
: Fortune" nc. z

The ivory marble gave its first warninl
click.
''Rien ne va plusr'
/ It fell.
"vinRthuit. Noir, pair. ct passe"
The fateful rake ga hered up the Maori
twenty-four thousand francs. and he be
gan, with fingers that trembled In spite OF
himself. to count for Q new stake. He
held out his hand for the box, and IL wa,
. work Of some little difficulty to open il
He couldn't find the keyhole readily until
the thought Of the crowded observers
steadied him. Then he took out second
great sheaf OF notes, relOcked the box, 10
turned II to the chef, and completed his
stake. At this moment Medhurst entered
the room, and seeing that all the idlers ol
the place were drawn to one table, un
easily suspected the Major there. HI
would not believe his own suspicious al
at once, and pretending to himself that hs
had discarded them entirely, he strolled
to the table, and found himself staring
pointblank at his companion between the
heads Of half-a-dozen rows OF people
There was nothing TO indicate the inward
riot in the Majors mind beyond the fact
that he looked flushed aud snlky, and
that he wore sort of bulldog expression
which was new In Medhurst's knowledge
Of him.
'Trois," said the coupier's voice
"Rouge. impair, ct manque."
The gallery moved. and sent up . CRY
which was for all the world like . minia
turs copy Of that which mounts from d
crowd at the sight Of . bouquet Of fire
works. Medhurst rounded the table, and
pushed eagerly to where the Major sat
One or two who had remarked his assOci
alton with the player made willing way
for him; but others, who were strange Il
him, resented his attempt TO pass. There
was little scufiie. and at the end Of II
Medhurst was standing at the back of the
Majors chair.
The croupier was counting out thirty
thousand francs for payment to the Major
and for an instant Medhurst did not
quite see what had happened. though
with the stakes still upon the table, and
the money passing to his comrades hands
the position Of affairs needed little ex
PLANTATION.
This isn't the system, Major" Med
hurst whispered, bending above him. II
never crossed his mind that the Ma jor had
broken into the cash-bOx. He supposed
him to have begun with the contents OF
his pocket-bOok, and TO have risen to this
daring play by sheer luck and audacity.
The Major answered nothing. but left the
stakes upon the table. The game went On,
and the next two or three turns OF the
wheel made great inroads on the second
pile Of notes.
''That'll do for tonight. Daisy" Med.
hurst whispered again. 'Be content with
what you've done already. Now. be per.
suaded, there's a good fellow. You know
he went on. seeing that the Major pre-.
served an obdurate silence. that you au-
thOrized me 20 stop you il / found you
going outside the system. You seem to
have done pretty well rs things stand but
you'll spoil it all il you 60 on at this pace. "
The tone was measured carefully enough
to reach the Majors ears only. The words
had no more effect upon him than il they
had remained unspoken. Medhurst be.
came charged with q cold anger at the
others obstinacy, and stood by TO watch
whilst the Majors money melted at an
average Of some five hundred pounds for
each turn Of the wheel. At last there were
bat two or three notes Of the second pile
left, and Medhurst tried again.
"COme," he whispered. you're where
you started now, or thereabouts. Gve 1t
up for to- night"
For sole answer the Major turned to-
wards the chef and extended his hand
The chef held the cash-box towards him,
and Medhurst. with start and an mar
ticulate groan of anger. which was audible
to all the table, intercepted 1t. The Ma
jor turned In his chair, and, seizing the
cash-box violently with both hands, drag.
ged II out of Medhurst's grasp. set 1t upon
the table, and unlocked it. At that, the
whole truth flashing upon Medhurst' s
mind in second. he seized the Major s
burly shoulders as il be would tear him
from his seat.
"You unmitigated assY' he said, forget
ting to measure his tone this time. "You
sand poundsl Didn't you give me your
solemn word Of honor not 10 play tonight :
Give me that cash-box. You sha mt throw
the rest away"
go to the devil, sir cried the Major.
wrathfully Mind your own business
~"This fs my business" Medhurst an
swered.
"I'll be hanged If it is, thought said the
Major
At the noise Of the strong voices people
ran from all parts Of the room,
ar l.
but with q self-pOssessiOn in the midst of
his anger which the Major could not com
mand-'I have done what you yourself
besought me to do. You told me that You
were fool, and not tit to be trusted at the
tables after dinner. You begged me to
keep you away, and authorized me to take
the money from the table II you playe'!
wildly. have done my duty, and wash
my hands Of you. You may take your
idiOtic course aloneW' s.
az am glad" responded the Major. call.
ing after him as he force his way through
the crowd. 81 am glad 10 be rid OF yOnI
damned impertineDt interference on any
terms. sir!'
And having delivered himself thus, b.
turned back with foolish. frnitless valor
to the tables, and did not rise till his last
bank note was gone. He had seen that II
ws,s going. and had reconciled himself 81
perfectly for the moment ia that irrespons,
ibl. happy 90 lucky mind Of his that he
laughed with unfeigned good-humor when
it was all over. He had still a double
handful Of gold pieces left but he was not
going to fall TO stakes which anybody
might play after that superb losing game.
so he staggered with perfect seeming
tranquility TO the pesttaire, secured his