The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1891-10-03
THE ACE OF HEARTa.

astounding things in the most unex-
pected way.
It 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 T..
Now this handsome blonde Boris is q
delightful comrade, charming, suave,
with the doll baby face of woman, tho
last one in the world l would ever inn
agine such wild, extraordinary adj
venture could happen to- 1t makes me
sliudder to think Of it.
"You knew the Prince de e." 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 ordi-
narily clear. No one knew better than he
the combinations Of ecarte. He was
called the Moltke of gamblers
"As to the Princess, what Parisian does
not know her and her history? When
was taken into her favor they said l was
the goth, only counting the distinguished
ones.
"The Prince took everything in the
most philosophical manner. He made
point of seeing nothing.
If the Prince was the Won Moltke OF
ccarte, the Princess was the Robert Hou
din Of coquetry.
"The Princess has a favorite maid, a
tzigane, as devoted as a tame panther,
Lat, alas, a cruel panther still
"One evening as this girl was showing
me to the boudoir of her mistress. siie
said q know not Why, 4 love you. /
burst out laughing. She repeated Il
love you, and have loved you long time.
/ am determined you shall not see the
Princess any more.
I'm spite of her sharp accents and tho
savage light in her yellow eyes. l could
only see her ugly, tawny face, and laughed
more and more, gently repulsing her.
"'You will not listen to meY she said,
clingiug to my arm and kissing my hand.
AS l laughed still more, she sii : ,anly
raised up, grinding her teeth, and said in
low, determined tone, as she threw
open the door of the boudoir, You Vii
repent this, monsieur
An hour later as was sitting beside
the Princess in grand divan, covered
with blue fox, we heard a great clamor
in the anteroom which preceded the
boudor. 1T is the voice of the Prince.
Can it be possibleY said the Princess.
Yes, it was the voice of the Prince, ex
claiming in sharp tones: Come, put me
down; you are mad; you make me i'll.
Put me down, tell you.
"Other voices were heard, a confused
noise of cries and approaching footsteps,
but above all this buzzing uproar could
be heard the furious falsetto Of the
screeching Tzigane: You shall see.
Every body 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,
Tzigane in the midst of them carrying
the Prince in her arms like puny child.
understood all In her fit of rage, with
the violence of tempest whirling 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 seeT
Seize her, said the Prince, and send
her to the mines
"'What does that matterr she cried,
holding her wrists for the manacles.
What do care, now that / am re-
yengedF Then turning to me, she
added 4 told you l would never allow
,.ff,t 10 con kI,a Dr;pna,e ,o.nf,,
"They raised the Prince and placed
him in an arm chair. He ordered every
one to leave the room except two friends
he begged to remain, then turning to me
lie said
az could kill you, Monsieur. as have
the right to do. But / do not wish TO
punish you in that way. demand
reparation by arms
II had desire to laugh. A duel with
that poor cripple? and what kind of
duel as he could hold neither sword nor
pistol in his feeble hands.
"The Prince understood my thoughts,
and replied: DO you think me mad or
more generous than l am. The duel
offer you is very possible, as you will
see. Touching bell a servant entered.
AGO and bring me a pack of cards
from the salon, he said
when the cards were brought and the
arm chair of the Prince had been drawn
up to the table, he motioned me to a seat,
and with a calm, almost affable air, said;
we are now going to play a game of
cards, Monsieur, and the one who loses
shall kill himself before 12 o'clock to.
morrow. Do you accept mon cherF
4 accept What game shall we play?
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 s'ite of herself by
the singularity of this strange duel
"The Prince was my master, that was
plainly TO be seen, but chance favored ms
in the most surprising way. Soon We
were to L.
"Parbleu, said to Boris, "no need ta
finish your story. l can guess it, as you
are here the Prince lost
"Not at all the Prince won.
@But, how
aHold, read this, which l received n
quarter of an hour after the game. us
was examining the chambers of my re-
volver"
He handed me an ace of hearts, upon
which the Prince had written:
MORsIEuR According 70 my theory you
have not been cheated, as you did not perceive
IT, But feel from this time il viii be impos-
sible for me 70 touch cards after having dis
honored them, and 20 1--we without them cnn-
not. / cheated awhile ago, Monsieur for the
FIRST and last time In my life. We were to4.
made a king appear. Pardon me. ! shall
now make Prince disappear.
The next day before 12 o'clock the
Prince was dead