Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1894-08-03
THE RED DOMINO.

LILLY 1OlID NOUl11NOs
'Botheration!'' said Captain Hugh
Walters to himself as the express train
from Nice drew up with sudden jerk
at the station of M, some six hours
from Paris.
The guards presently came to the door
Of the compartment to inform messieurs
les voyageurs that a serious collision
had taken place between M and the
next station, and that the traffic would
not be resumed in all likelihood till aft
er IL that night. 1t was then Z.
The captain determined to seek the
best hotel in the place and console him
self in the meantime with good din
ner And in a very short time he was
seated at the table d'hote in the Hotel
DIES strangers.
Captain Hugh Walters was young
officer, only recently promoted to his
present rank He had paid short visit
to Monte Carlo among other places, and
having plenty Of money to throw away
had, of course, essayed his fortune at
the gaming tables.
His luck had been extraordinary. The
very fact that money was no object to
him seemed, strangely enough, to have
gained him all the more the smile Of
tickle fortune
Most of the money he carried in the
shape of notes in the pockets of a leath-
ern belt.
He had received a telegram which
had greatly disturbed him. It was from
the mother of his fiancee in London and
ran thus: "Ethel is dangerously i'll with
pneumonia. Come home at once.
He was barely seated at the table be-
fore he had discovered a couple of ac-
Observation-Disclosures whom he had
met at Monte Carlo, and who had left
that place a few days previously for
M. In their society he was COM
PEELED to Danish his grief and to con-
ceal his anxiety. That very evening
they said there was to be a grand mask
ed ball at the Casino. Would he not
come to it?
The captain was in no mood for dane
ing that evening, but he could allege
no good excuse
AS he was about to mount the steps
of the Casino thought struck him,
and he turned toward the driver of the
cabriolet. Just at that moment he no.
ticed his two fellow travellers, the Ital-
ians, pass by the Casino, arm in arm.
He fancied that they also recognized
him.
However, the incident did not strike
him as remarkable, and calling out to
the cabman, "Call for me at 11:45
punctually," he passed into the Casino.
At any other time such a scene would
have had it's charms for the captain.
He had been well 'tlooked AFTER by his
friends, who had left him small time to
himself and had dragged him from part
ner to partner At last he was left for
a short time to his own devices. The
clock was striking the hour of II when,
although it was yet SO early, he finally
decided to 60 He would go to his hotel
on foot, and the walk, he thought,
would do him good.
Fate decreed otherwise, however. Be-
fore he had reached the exit of the ball
room he was buttonholed by one of his
American friends
"What, going already? This will
never dol" he exclaimed. ''There is a
lady just arrived whom I am deter
mined you shall dance with She seems
a great beauty, and the Comte du Val,
one of the stewards, says she is the best
dancer in NJ"
AS he finished the Conte du Val came
up with the lady in question. The lady
wore domino Of a deep red silk, which
effectually concealed her identity. When
she was introduced to Walters, only her
eyes were visible. These were of ex-
ceptional beauty-the color of very
dark blue, SO deep that it approached to
black The captain was Immediately
drawn to her by their fascination.
So far he had only known one person
with such eyes as these, and that was
his faraway fiancee, the girl on whom
all his anxious thoughts We're now CEN
tered.
He at once begged that he might have
the next dance. The lady gracefully
bowed her assent, her manner plainly
indicating that for the present at least
it was her pleasure to maintain her in
cognito by an absolute silence.
Not word fell from the lady's lips,
Notwithstanding that the captain had
felt it incumbent upon him to speak oc-
casionally, and they continued to dance
in complete silence-on her part at
least.
For all this the time passed, as it
seemed to him, like pleasing dream.
He forgot all about his journey, the
hour Of his departure and his order to
the cabman-forgot everything, in
fact, even Ethel, while under the spell
that the eyes of his companion seemed
to have weaved about him.
He was suddenly recalled to himself
by the Ginning of the great clock of
the Casino as he was leading his part
ner to her seat at the end of an enjoya-
bic waltz.
He hastil y looked at his watch-it
was midnight!-and turned to take
leave of the lady. She was gone. He
found no conveyance waiting nor any
within reach. st suppose the fellow
got tired of waiting and left" he
thought as he walked rapidly from the
Casino in the direction of the hotel.
He had not gone far along the badly
lighted street before his progress was
arrested by confused crowd of people,
apparently in great connection, gathered
around cabriolet, the driver of which
was off his box, wringing his hands
and muttering lamentations after the
manner of Frenchman when under
great excitement
Lying in the roadway, looking ghast-
ly in. the Pickering light cast by the
carriage lamps, was the body of young
Englishman. A thrill of horror pervad.
ed the captain as he realized that he
was face to face with murder, and as he
advanced he caught the eye of the un.
happy driver Of the cabriolet
"Mon Dieup' said the latter in tone
of intense surprise Monsieur is then
not dead? And I had made certain that
the unfortunate man at our feet was
none other than monsieur himselfr'
With that he entered into volublt
explanation. He had kept to monsieur's
instructions and had brought his cabrio
let to the Casino few minutes before