The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-18
POINTERS FROM A CHAMELEON.
How Lord Aylesford Won 100000
by Watching the Creature Change

How Lord Aylesford Won 100000
by Watching the Creature Change
Color.
The were talking about alligators at the
Union League the other day, says the
Chicago Mail A gentleman in the party
had just returned from Florida, and had
been telling some rather acrobatic stories
about shooting the saurians from the deck
of river steamboat. can alligator he
explained, sis only big lizard, any way.
All the legged and tailed reptiles belong to
the same family, but vary in size and hab-
its. Why, I've seen lizards an inch long,
and alligators Thirteen feet, yet their anat-
omy is about the same.
speaking of lizards" said another
gentleman, reminds me of a story in
which one about q inches long played
prominent part. Did any of You ever know
the late LORD Aylesfordl He died in Texas
couple of years ago, / believe; had
ranch next to mine down there, and | got
very well acquainted with him. Joe was a
good fellow-one of Gods own, in fact, in
generosity, cordIality, and the general
characteristics which go TO make up good
fellow. He was, however, considerable Of d
sport
swell, as / say, met Joe in Texas, and
| later in the same season went abroad WITH
him We stayed in London for a fortnight,
and then ran over to Paris for q week. |
had been there before, but I'd never seen
the town under the tutelage of a fellow like
Joe. We went everywhere-to the varie-
ties, the circus, and-other places. AT the
end of a week we had about enough of
| Paris for once, and when Joe proposed a
run down to Monte Carlo l was ready at
short notice. had never been in
| the Riviera. Well, we got to
Monte Carlo, and were out
seeing the sights. 1t was during
our stroll that Joe picked up this little liz
ard. lie was dirty black when he caught
him, but changed in a few moments to a
dull red. Chameleon said joe Think I'll
keep him. laughed, but he put the little
beast into his pocket, and on the way back
to the hotel stopped in a jewelry store aud
had little gold band fastened around the
| lizard and hooked to light gold chain,
which he pinned to his waistcoat. L thought
! it a queer fancy, but joe said the Cubans
had habit of carrying them that way, and
he was going to give it to a Cuban lady at
| the hotel.
THAT night Joe and / went to the Casino
after the promenade concert and got places
| at rouge-et-noir table. | didn't bet much,
only a few rouleaux of five-franc pieces, and
lost. Joe, however, won the first small bet
he put down, and then began doubling. He
kept winning, and finally began playing
| higher and higher till he reached the limit.
He stuffed his winnings all into an outside
pocket, and played every turn. Pretty soon
he began to attract attention even in that
absorbed crowd. People left the other tables
and came to watch his play. One young
| fellow followed his bets and made a number
of winnings and quit. Another, an old
German, 'coppered' him and lost his pile.
Presently nudged Joe, and told him to
| quit. Mol he was going to break the bank
That settled it. Word passed around the
room that an Englishman was doing some
fabulous winning, and presently the crowd
| around that table amounted to q perfect
crush. Joe didn't seem to be playing any
| system. He would bet the black twice,
maybe, and then the red a dozen times, and
vice versa. The croupiers were excited and
amazed. Exclamations came from all
| sides in a dozen different languages. He's
crazyp No he isn'tp The black WON'T
stand another turnp by Jove he's going
to try it againp He's tempting provi-
dencep
'Joe paid no attention to anybody. He
played steadily along, winning two bets out
of every three, and never hesitating. was
little behind him, and wedged in next was
au old French woman with a nose like q
| hawks beak Her eyes fairly popped out
/ 90 ouO "obShOh bAiC pay eSAb OhSS va O"ASo
minute she would gasp when the crouper
pushed Joe's winnings over. His pockets
by this time bulged with notes and he had
more gold coin than he could carry in his
trousers. The rouleaux were stacked in
front of him like chips. The game had
| been going about two hours when the Group
Ter said: Monsieur, if you win this time
the bank Closes Joe had the limit on
the red. The wheel turned and red won.
At that moment the old Frenchwoman gave
a yell that startled the house and jumped
about two feet in the air. Everybody
started. The snake! Take it Off she cried,
and dropped down on the floor in faint.
As she did / saw Joe, who was piling his
gold into his hat, grin and pull up the lizard
BY the chain. The little brute is what
frightened her. he said. But he's all right.
| He's my system
"Gentlemen," continued the narrator, sit
was true. That fellow had let that lizard
crawl around the table in front of him on
the painted squares, and had won 500, 0OC
francs, betting on him as he changed color
from red to black, and vice versa"