The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-04-17
A eAMBLBR,s GRATITUDE.

OIner CleTkS eHJOyeul uCHC6 Ho lOOhet
forward to his holidaygwith great zest
and he was therefore rather annoyed t.
find that on the present occasion, evel
during that short period of enjoyment
he was not to be wholly free from til,
cares of business. The day before ht
started his father-whO never talked
business out of business hours-calleC
him into his private room in the bank
and said:
''EvasiO, as you are going to Homburl
for your holiday, you may as well super
intend the sale of some property of min,
there, which l am going to dispose of
: Mr.. Watson, my manager, will give yor
} full instructions and necessary dOcu
ments, and, when you have received the
money, you had better pay it straight in
to Messrs. POtsdorff & Guelph, Oui
agents at Homburg. That is all. Now
go and get your instructions from Mr.
! Watson. Stay moment, though-herC
is e25 for yourself. That will find you
in little spare pocket money"
The young man, whose face frightened
up little toward the end of the conver
sation, thanked his father, and pockete6
the e5 notes which the latter had placed
on the table. Then he went, as request
ed, to receive his instructions from the
manager about the sale of the Homburg
property. These, not being intricate
were soon mastered; and Mr.. EvasiC
started for the famous German Spa, with
the consoling reflection that the business
involved by the sale would not occupy
him very long.
Arrived at his destination, he made W
his mind to get the troublesome part OF
his visit over as soon as possible; and he
pushed forward the arrangements for the
sale so quickly, that at the end of the
fourth day the property had been dis
posed of, and the purchase-money, about
ten thousand flOrins, had been safely paid
in the agents hands.
That same evening he visited, by way
of amusement, one of the numerous
gambling saloons with which Homburl
then abOunded. He did not enter it will
the intention of playing, but as he stood
looking on at one of the rOuge-et-noil
tables, and watching the changing for
tunes of the gamblers, especially of one
man who was winning largely, an ire
sistible impulse came upon him to stake
something himself. He accordingly lait
down five flOrins, which he lost; then tel
more, which he also lost Next time hC
again doubled his stake, but the twenty
florins were likewise swept away. HI
began to grow impatient. Surely mex
time he must win. He would, therefore
stake a more substantial sum; so he lai(
down hundred florins. Peste! His
was surely no beginners luck. The
hundred tlorins vanished also! Biting
his lip to check any outward expression
of vexation, he resolved inwardly to &C
on until he won. But, alas! his time
for winning never came! He continued
to stake wildly, and lose each time, wheI
at last, on putting his hand into hi
purse to draw out fresh supply o
money, he found it empty. And it haC
contained all the cash he had brough
with him to Homburg! Here, then, wa
a pretty state of things! Not siXpens'
left, and another week at Homburg be
fore him?-to say nothing of the hOte
bill which he had already incurred, anC
his fare back to England! Yet, if tn,
truth must be told, he was not troubled
so much by this consideration, as by til,
fact that while he stood and continued
to watch the gambling, he determined
inwardly how he should have staked, i
he had had money left; and almost ever,
time the color came up in his favor!
was maddening! He only needed trif
ling sum to win at least 10000 florins
and that trifling sum was not forthcom
ing. Shortly before midnight he re
turned to his hotel, chatting and despOn
dent, and when he went to bed, it wa
not to sleep. He could do nothing bu
toss restlessly from side to side, ant
brood over his losses and the chances a
rouge-et-noir. What pity that he hat
not large sum of money with him!
only he had enough to weather few re
verses at the outset, he was certain Is,
he told himself) to win huge fortune
And he had a considerable sum at hand
True, it was his fathers money; bu
then he would only borrow it, and repa,
it from his winnings. For that he mus
win, if he went on long enough, he ha,
not the slightest doubt Besides, he wa
bound to raise some cash from some
where, if only to pay his hotel bill. AM
what better way than to borrow from hi
father?
Having thus quite made up his min,
what course he would adopt, he wen
down the next day to the agents am
drew out 1000 fiorins of the purchase
money. 1t would be foolish (he toll
himself) if he were going to borrow thi
money at all, not to borrow enough +
insure success.
When the evening came, he betooI
himself again to the same gambling sa
loon, flushed and eager with the pros
pect of winning a fortune. But, alas
his luck was even more diabolical tina
it had been on the previous evening; an
} the more he lost the more wildly h
staked, until, in less than an hour, ever
penny of the 5000 florins had been sweI
away by the croupier!
Having now borrowed and lost so laTg
part of his fathers money, only on
course remained to him, namely, to boz
row some more, and gamble with it, i
order to make the deficit good by hi
winnings. So the next day he drew ou
six thousand tlorins more from til
agents, being determined that he wOul
not fail from lack of means to go OF
But even long purse can't stand again'
a determined spell of ill-luck, backed b
wild and reckless speculation. In quit
a short time the 5000 fiOrins had gon
the way Of all the other money. To sa
that the young gambler was franti
scarcely describes his frame of minC
Could he not raise little more cas-
somewhere to continue with? For surel
fortune must turn soon! There wei
still a thousand florins left at the agents
but they could not be obtained at thi
hour of the night. And he had n
friends of whom he could borrow. Sue
denly a desperate and unlikely MOTTO
occurred to him. He would seek out I'll
proprietor of the saloon, state his cas-
to him, and ask him to advance the whol
or part, of the thousand florins on drai
upon POtsdorff q Guelph. How improl
ahla ~ kl.af flaa tNrnnttafnr tnrAttl1 III
this, for q perfect stranger, scarcel
struck him in its full force. He wa
frantic to obtain the money, and meai
ured his chance of doing so rather b
his wishes than by the probabilities {
the case.
No sooner had he formed the plan tina
he acted upon it by requesting one of tn
walters to conduct him to the proprietc
of the establishment. The waiter /;
! once pointed out to him short, wei
dressed man, with dark hair and a Jey
: ish cast of face, who sat near the doc
/, smoking cigar and looking about hi
with an air of seeming indifference
: though in reality he kept watchful ey
upon all that went on in the saloon.
Evasio approached him, and said
Il English-(his German was too broken
Il be easily intelligible)-"Youa are the pr,
4 prietOr of this saloon, understand?'
The other rose and bowed, answeriI
. in the same language:
81 am, sir. Can | serve you in an
way?''
"Can you grant me few minutes pi
vate conversations"
"With pleasure, sir. Follow me tn
| way, pleasel''
i The proprietor ushered Evasio into
! small apartment, which led out of Il
h saloon, and, closing the door, requeste
d him to be seated. He himself sat dow
r opposite and waited for the young ms
: TO begin.
In confused and nervous sentenc