The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-02-29

snow, and tao 6agebruSn ana STease7
wood of the plain laid fat before the
wind and wee covered over. lie LETT
the river bank and found himself in the
glare of the yellow lights from Hank
Faughn's Temple of Art" Nobody
even glanced at him as he entered the
long hall, embe1lished by groups OF
gamblers. His abstract impression was
that there was plentiful supply OF
whiskers, flannel shirts, belts, boots,
knives and revolvers. The groundwork
of the scene was familiar; it differed
but in degree from others he had Lad
his eyes on. Here half dozen OF the
uncouth lived for stud poker, and the
stacks of smiling twenties, sentlneled
by convenient ''weepuns, suggested how
quickly they might die for the same
game.
There Is the strealy shadow, where
the tin disk refectors struggled to send
the lazy light of the oil lamps; pro-
jected from the board walls were the
layout of faro and the lean kine-lts
devotees. Out of semifog came the
spring click of the tin box mixed up
with the penetrant voice of the dealer.
Farther on the roulette spun its revolu-
tions of destiny for the human moth.
Here was given the grim and grizzly the
chance to forget himself, his surround
ings and the too numerous regrets OF
his past; here his love of excitement
had steady growth and qualification, and
a channel was followed for escape OF
tine energies which his mode of life left
unused. Here the animal was let loose;
the large elephant grew larger, the tiger
was toyed with, and even the old game
of chuck a-luck was remodeled by the
appearance on green oilcloth of a
canary colored pony, with flowing name
and tail, who was now recognized as
mustang"
The boy in blue went disinterestedly
and slowly from group to group, idly
watching the play, and the very reverse
side of it all, his old mother in her little
home, was made a fashlight photograph
on his mind. He remembered that when
he was younger his hair had been wet
with his mothers tears, and that some
body, whose bearded face he recalled
often, had gone away. He had worked
for her and for his little brothers until
they became old enough to take up the
life of his kind, and then he went out to
ask if the world were not wider than it
seemed, taking her blessing to keep him
warm. When he thought of this he no
longer accommodated himself to his en-
vironment. The atmosphere rested on
him heavily and the sounds Jared and
offended all his senses. He turned and
went down the hall. He had neared the
last table when nervous hand caught
his eye as it lifted a stack of blue chips
and dropped them rapidly, one after the
other, with that never described sound
known only to the player. He followed
up the hand to the profile of the face,
and stiffened where he stood; his blood
cold, his eyes fixed, his heart movement
arrested. Recovering himself, he passed
on, looked through the three bullet holes
in one of the six small panes of glass in
the upper part of the double doors, raised
the huge iron latch and stood facing the
outer blackness.
Life is not told by clocks. He was
there for minute, but he had lived out
years of time. He turned a sharp about
face, and with that nondescript, blood
chilling look man wears but once in
life, strobe straight and unarmed to the
place of the profile, laid his hand almost
tenderly on the shoulder of his man and
said softly, as if he feared he might
wake him, 81 am Corporal Scion Brain
bridge, Jr., and I arrest you for the
Ceur d'Alene stage robbery"
The hand of the other was on his re-
volver and both were travelling to
dangerous level though in a slow man
ner Of indecision, while his eyes seemed
lifting painfully. When they rested at
last on the boys face his own had lost
the concentrated look of the gambler.
The pearl gray shadow stealing over his
seamy cheeks spoke Of more pitiable
suffering than mere physical pain, and a
wide gaze of such distressed helplessness
as no painter will ever approach grew
out of the fading, fierce light of his eyes.
The half raised arm replaced the half
ready weapon on the table with all the
carefulness Of age palsy, and the ashen
lips TREMENDOUSLY said, 'tIm readyp
It was a matter for half hours won
derment in Hanks place that there was
no blood on the sawdust, and then the
dice ratified, the faro box disclosed a
jolly looking, well fed king; cries of ''The
lucky red is filed; fifteen in the black
and you all win; come along, gentle
men," were heard; the roulette ball went
round again, and the feverish life that
consumes held on it's way.
Conviction was had on the evidence Of
the boy, who unwittingly was about to
doff the arm chevron for the shoulder
strap, and when the secondhand wit of
the post asked him who was the woman
in the case, the Jack of Clubs replied,
"The boys mother"
: Within the limits of Kootenai county,
in the territory of Idaho, on Jan. Is. 1883,
for the double crime of murder and high
way robbery, was hanged until it was
dead the body of Scion cambridge, sr.
He was the father of soldier!-W. Ell.
CsJ,;. ~; Ec ~, yN,c1,iyo erfop pnct