The record-union., 1891-09-04
HE KILLED HIMSELF.
RemarlSa BILE Death of u Russian Prince
Who Cheated III Cnrds

permanent of refined civilization and saw
age barbarism they do the most aStound
ing things in the most unexpected way.
1t was thus Boris Mirskow amazed me
yesterday by relating in the coolest, most
nonchalant manner the strange end of his
Irritation with the Princess de 2.
Now this handsome blonde Boris is
delightful comrade, charming, suave,
with the doll-baby face of a woman, the
last one in the world l would ever imag-
inc such wild, extraordinary adventure
could happen to. 1t makes me shudder
to think of it.
You knew the Prince de Z-,' he
said; 'at least you knew him by reputa-
ton. A cripple from birth, nailed to his
chair, he had but one passion in life
gambling. His feeble hands had barely
strength sufficient TO hold and shuttle the
cards. In return, his head was extremely
cool, his intelligence more than ordinary
clear. No one knew him better than he
the combinations of ecarte. He was called
the Moltke of gamblers.
AS to the Princess, what Partisan
does not know her end and her history?
When | was taken into her favor they
said | was the twentieth, only counting
the distinguished ones.
THE Prince took everything in the
most philosophical manner. He made a
point of seeing nothing. When they
spoke Of a deceived husband before him
he would always ask, WAS he aware of
it? Did he know it?' II they answered
No. then he would say, He was not de-
ceived; it is IN this as in play; one is not
cheated II he doesn't know it,
IF the Prince was the Won MOltke of
ecarte, the Princess was the Robert Hou-
din of coquetry.
There are no jugglers so sl1illful but
what they miss the mark sometimes.
Our mischance was caused by malevo-
lence.
1.-The Princess had :, favorite maid. a
Tzlgane, as devoted as Il tame panther,
but, alas! cruel panther stilll
"One evening as this girl was showing
me to the boudoir of her mistress she said
Il know not Why, 1 love you.' [ burst
out laughing. She repeated, I love you,
and have loved you for a long time. /
am determined you shall not see the Prin-
cess any more
In spite OF her sharp accents and the
savage light in her yellow eyes, could
only see her ugly, taWny face, and laughed
more and more, gently repulSing her, for
l thought she had taken too much Ilou-
miss and felt very indulgent to her fault,
as my own head was a little astray from
too much champagne.
ou Will not listen to me?'' she said,
clinging to my arm and kissing my
hand.
''As l laughed still more, she suddenly
raised up, grinding her teeth, and said, in
low, determined tone, as she threw
open the door Of the boudoir, You will
repent this, monsieur
'An hour later, as / was sitting beside
the Princess on a grand divan, covered
with blue fox, we heard great clannOr in
the ante-room which preceded the bou-
dOir. 1T is the voice he Prince. Can
it be possible?' said t. sincess. Yes. it
was the voice Of the .ince, exclaiming
in sharp tones: Come, put me down:
you are mad; you make me i'll. Put mo
down, tell you
"Other voices were heard, confused
noise OF cries and approaching footsteps,
but above all this buZZing uproar cOuld
be heard the furious talsetto of the
screeching TZigane: You shall see.
Everybody shall see. Don't dare to
touch me, not one OF you. If you do /
will strangle him. Quick, open the
| door,
The door was violently thrown open.
About dozen people entered the room,
friends of the family and domestics, TZi-
game in the midst of them CARVING the
Prince in her arms like puppy child.
understood it all. In her fit Of rage. with
| the violence Of a tempest whirlinr a
| broken leaf, she had brought the Prince
here by main force, and, throwing him
on the floor hOWled, Now see for yOur-
self. Say, do you see?'
Seize her. said the Prince, and send
her TO the mines
"'What does that matter? she cried.
holding her wrist for the manacles. What
do l care now that l am revenged?' Then
turning to me she added: i told you
would never allow you to see the Princess
again.
They raised the Prince and placed
him in an armchair. He ordered every
one to leave the room except two friends
he begged to remain, then turning to me
said:
"I could kill you, monsieur. as I have
a right To do. But L do not wish to pun
lsh you in that way. / demand repara-
ton by arms
II had a desire to laugh. 4 duel with
that poor cripple? and what kind of a
duel, as he could hold neither sword nor
pistol in his feeble hands.
"The Prince understood nv tboughts
and replied: DO not think me mad or
more generous than l am. The duel I
offer you is very possible, as you will
see Touching bell servant entered.
60 and bring me pack of cards
from the salon. he said.
when the cards were brought and the
armchair Of the Prince had been drawn
up TO the table, he mOtioned me to a seat,
and with calm, almost affabIe air, said:
we are now going to play a game of
cards, monsieur, and the one who loses
shall kill himself before II o'clock to-
| morrow. Do you accept, monsieur?'
! accept. What game shall we pIay?"
| 'Ecarte, if you please so be it. For
how many points?' Five
The game commenced, witnessed by
the two friends and the Princess. who
drew near, drawn in spite of herself by
the singularity of this strange duel.
The Prince was my master; that was
plainly to be seen, but chance favored
i 71ln in "a nET c1tlY. yisiv1r
we were four to four.
"Parbleu," said to Boris, "no need to
finish your story. | can guess it; as you
are here the Prince lost"
Not at all; the Prince won."
"But how"
! My lip turned with scorn, for thought
/ Boris had been too cowardly to carry out
! the wager. He smiled maliciously' and
/ continued:
/ Hold! read this. which 1 received a
/ quarter Of an hour after the game, as
! | was examining the chambers Of my re-
| volver.n
He handed me an ace of hearts. upon
which the Prince had written:
! M6gSieUr-According to nv theory Won
| have hot been cheated, as you did not per
| ceive it. But feel from this time it will
! be impossible for me to touch cards after
! having dishonored them, and to live
without them cannot. I cheated awhile
ago, monsieur, for the first and last time
'fn my life. We were four to four. I
| made a king appear. Pardon me. I
shall now make Prince disappear"
The next day before u o'clock the
Prince was dead.-New York Recorder.
The Haytfan Army.
Ignorance and vanity are the prevail
ing traits of the Haytian soldier, from
General to private, and indeed are marked
characteristics of vast majority of the
nennln- Whn aNnramn HnNtiarn l. On 4 f,i