The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1894-02-09

~ -~-'-. e II ort, he was
2y seized with verti.
go and narrowly
escaped falling to the floor
With a weary brain and trembling
legs, he threw himself upon n long
leather safe which surrounded the
gambling table.
For several minutes h, looke
vaguely about these private gambling
rooms where be- had spoiled the most
beautiful years of his youth, recog-
nized the worn features of the differ.
ent gamblers, cruelty lighted by the
great shaded lamps, heard the soft
clinking of the gold upon the green
table, felt that he was ruined. lost,
and remembered that he had ut home,
in the a,.ra"e, y: t.ihv oummode, n pair OF
pistols which had once been tho prop.
erty of his father, General de Hern.
when he was q captain; then, ONLY,
worn out with fatigue, he fell into a
profound sleep.
When he awakened. his mouth ,lty
and parchcd, he asccrtained by glanc-
ing at the clock that he hal scarcely
slept quarter of an hour, and he felt
an overwhelming desire to breathe the
fresh, cool, night air. The hands of
the clock pointed to quarter of an
hour of midnight Az he arose and
stretched himself, he remembered that
twas Christmas eve, and with an
lronical play Of the memory, he saw
himself a little child and putting, be-
fore he went to bed, his shoes in front
of the fireplace.
At this moment, old Drouski, a
pillar of the place, n typical Pole,
wearing rusty, long coat, trimmed
with braid and large ornaments, ap.
pFgaehedn MdsHc:s9 esd Imnttered these sa
words through his gray beard:
"Lend me five francs, sir. 1t is now
two days since l have not left the
club, and during these two days l
have not seen seventeen win You
may laugh at me, if you wish, but /
will cut off my right hand if soon, at
midnight, this number is not the
on".
Lucien do Hern shrugged his shoul-
ders. He had not even enough in his
pockets to give to that beggar, whom
the frequenters of the place called
'ies cents sous du Polonais" He
passed into the anteroom, took his hat
and coat and went down the staircase
with n feverish agility.
Since 4 o'clock, when Lucien went
into the club, the SNOW had been fall
ing steadily and the street-a narrow
one in the centre of Paris, with high
houses on eth ,r side-was white with
In thA al, ~.
the cold stars scintillated.
The ruinel gambler shivered in his
furs and began to walk rapidly, turn
ing over always in his mind those
hopeless thoughts and dreaming more
than ever Of the box of pistols which
awaited him in the drawer of his COM
mode; but after having taken several
steps, he stopped suddenly before
heart-rending spectacle.
Upon stone bench placed accord
ing to an old custom near the large
door OF private house, a little girl
scarcely SIX or seven years old, dressed
III r' / black frock, was sitting in
the SNOW. Sh" had fallen asleep there
despite the cruel cold, in a pitiful at-
tltudc of fntiy"e and detection, and
her poor little head and tiny shoulder
had dropped into corner of the wall
and were resting upon the icy stone.
One Of The old wooden shoes with
which the child was shod had fallen
from the foot, which was hanging
down, and lay drealily before her.
Mechanically Lucien lie Ucrn put
his hand to his vest pocket, but he re.
membered that moment before he
did not find even n franc, and that he
could not give fee to the club waiter
nevertheless, pushed by an instructive
sentiment of pity, he approached the
little girl, and he started, perhaps, to
raise her III his arms and to give her
place of shelter for the night, when he
saw something glist in tho shoe
which had fallen from her foot.
He bent over it; it was twenty
five-franc piece.
charitable persona woman, no
doubt had passed that way, had seen
on that Christmas eve that shoes that
had fallen in front of the sleeping
child, and recalling the touching
legend, she had carefully placed there
great gift, so that the little aban-
doned child could believe yet in Santa
Claus, aud should retain, in spite OF
her unhappiness and misery, some
confidence and some hope in the good
ness of Providence.
Twenty-Five francs! There was in
it several days rest and wealth for the
beggar, and Lucien was upon the point
of awakening her to tell her of it,
when he heard near his ear, like an
hallucination, voice the voice Of
the Pole with his thick and drawing
accent that murmured low these
words:
"lt is now two days that / have not
left the Climb and durino these two