Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-14

But had not come all the way from Bar
celona for drive, and although my system
had got rude shake, 1 held to my course,
and we parted.
Leaving q reserve fund of 920 locked In
my bag, to be sure of having enough
to take me home, sauutered down the
hill, and. few minutes later
found me safely past the great man
with the decoration, and In possession OF q
seat at roulette table near the croupier.
began in the most busIness-like way, pre-.
pared to drink the cup to the dregs if had
miscalculated, but determined not to finch
as long as had 5-franc piece lett and the
Casino remained open. My system was
based on the transversals OF six numbers,
which made my chances 6 in SO, apart from
the Zero or ! in 8. When / won payment
would be in inverse ratio-that is TO say,
when laid down one piece on lucky
transversal, would get back five others
with it. Now, if fortune distributed her
favors impartislly, my transversal ought
clearly to get turn once in every six; but
1 had made, as I thought, far more
than ample allowance for her ca
price; for, thanks to gradually increasing
stakes, if the ivory ball dropped into one OF
nv numbers once in 25 turns OF the wheel, l
q
1 reached the maximum stake allowed on
transversal of six, namely ], 200 francs, the
bank making it rule not to pay more than
6. 900 francs for one stake. Winning on or
before the twenty-fifth turn would give me
small profit overhead; but on the twenty
sixth would have a loss of nearly 1000
francs and ], 200 francs more on every sue
ceeding turn till won. OF course ii funds
ran short without my transversal turning
up, there would be further loss OF fnlly
5000 francs; but such a ridiculous con-
tincency was not to be thought of.
All went we'll for hours. Often L won
within the first six turns, only twice was the
seventeenth reached and only once
the eighteenth. The Man was
clearly vanquished; he had long
"A pun on the name of the late NJ. Blanc. the
founder of the Casino. Whether red or olack
turns up, white (Blanc) always wins
since paid back nv 45 francs. not to mention
Twinnie's 5, my own Napoleon of years ago
with compound interest, and such trifies as
INV expenses from Barcelona. But as din
ner-time drew near, all changed. 1 was
playing on the fifth transversal, that is to
saw. the numbers from % to 80. The seven
teenth turn came. "Trente-six, Rouge,
Pair ct Passe" The eighteenth. :. SO again.
Then z, 80, 36, %, Is and 8 turned up 1t
was now the twentv-fifth stake-1, 200 francs.
"Messieurs, faites lie jeu-'Le jeu est fait. "
Down went a 1,000-franc note and swo big
gold coins. "Rien ne va plus"-"Un,
Rouge, Impair ct Manque." felt the Man
grinning at me. 1 tried again. .35....
This was serious-my system was failure.
1 began ruminating on the why and where
fore, and forgot the game, till l was re-
called by lie jeu est fait." I had
lust time to push forward the other ], 200
francs when the croupier called "Rien ne va
plus" To my horror 1 saw that in my
haste had placed the money on the fourth
transversal-19 to 24-instead of the fifth.
Click, click, click went the ball of destiny,
and finally settled down.. ."Twenty-four,
black, pair and pass" and in another second
was picking up six thousand-franc notes.
A sigh of relief from some friendly specta-
tors followed, and a little fat Frenchman
rushed round the table and said: "Je vous
en- feliclte, monsieur; but it was mistake,
you know" had got fine fright, yet had
presence of mind enough left to remember
that Dame Fortune owed a long overdue
visit to the fifth transversal, so I promptly
placed louis on the OLD spot. The
tickle goddess shirked for other seven
turns, but at the eighth heard the welcome
"Trente, Rouge, Pair ct Passe, and hand
full of big gold pieces was pushed over to me.
1 looked the time-6:15, and dinner was at
half past; so, with a courteous eau revoir"
to the man, In the person of the croupler, I
picked up my little pile and marched off.
was most uncomfortable, however; my
pockets were all but running over with 100
franc pieces, and had the Queerest feeling
of absolute Indifference to money. As I
trotted up the hill, heard coin Jingle on
the stones 'Only one of the plaques
E.Ila- .oid 10 T boSfopad nm
"Hope some one who needs it may find it in
the morning." looked in for a moment at
the photograph shop.
Eighty francs you said, madame; there
they are"
"But, monsieur, 1t Is not possible"
"Oh, perfectly Send the albums, if it
please you, to the Hotel de Russie.'
L got in just as the people
were sitting down to dinner, so
had hurried wash in the lavatorY without
going upstairs, and then took my old seat
beside Lady s.
"Ah, you haven't been to the Casino after
all, ;" she said.
"Oh, yes, havel'
"Well, you don't look one bit miserable"
"Why should 1, unless that am horribly
uncomfortable sitting here with my pockets
like this?"
"You don't mean that these are all g.
franc pieces?"
''Five-franc piecesl' said 1 scornfully,
pulling out hand full of the yellow beauties.
"Good graciousl" she exclaimed, 81 never
knew that happen before. Don't you 60
back"
"Why, of course shall. You wouldn't
have me do the man out of all this money?
only wanted As francs, and 1 must have
1000 or 5000 here"
We had a very merry meal, after which
went to my room and counted the spoil
5,075 francs Of clear winnings. I put nv
5000 safely away in my most unget-at-able
pocket, and feeling that now I might trifle
with fortune to the extent of fully 5000
francs careless of the result, back 1 went
On the way down 1t occurred to me that but
for the lucky mistake I had made on the
fourth transversal, 1 would now be settling
MP nv bill out of the 20 pounds of reserve,
and waiting for the night representations
the albums. But I had made up my mind
for whole day of it, and, besides. common
fairness demanded that the man should get
another chance.
had 20 wait q long time for place, for
the rooms were crowded now, but at last 1
got begun again. The Casino, which opens
at midday, closes at IL o'clock, and as a run
of % takes 40 minutes, it was not safe to
start fresh one after 10. The Man was
paying for everything now, so was more
venturesome, and increased my stakes more
quickly. This of course would bring me to
nv maximum before 25 turns; but l had
the same good luck as in the morning, and,
without ever passing the dozen, my pile
went on increasing till, at 10:15, 1 had some
Il, 900 or 13, 900 francs to the good.
Now for the last runl 1 chose the second