The herald., 1895-08-25

playing cards in unopened wrappers. and
row after row of ivory chi ps. ali bearing in
the center the engraved monogram, 81.
S." meaning Judith Solomon. 1t was
interesting to watch her as she picked
the chips out of the dox and placed them
on the table. Being young and pretty,
in spite of her extreme pallor and
possessing more than usual grace in all
! her movements. her action OF sorting the
chips into piles of blues and reds and
whites was picturesque. There were six
chairs around tho table, including her
own. and on the table before each chair
she placed three piles of chips. consisting
of twelve plues, ten reds and twenty
whites.
It was 1 o'clock. A few minutes later
the bell rang and the company which
, Mrs. Solomon had been expecting began
to arrive. Within ten minutes all had
come. They were most of them women
of middle age, although one was gray
haired and ono was still in the flush Of
youth. Each brought with her small
valise. The door had hardly closed be.
hind the last conner and greetings had
i been barely exchanged when Mrs. Solo
mon said:
Now. dears coms right up stairs and
get ready. We haven't any time to
waste"
They followed her to the next floor ana
disappeared within her room. When
| they returned to the parlor floor great
! transformation had taken place in their
| appearance. Their street costumes, had
been removed and replaced by comforia-
BILE dressing gowns. No further ceremony
around the table, Mrs. Solomon at the
head. She took one of the packs Of cards
out of the box and placed it on the table,
then put the box on that little stand be-
hind her.
'Now, ladies'" she said. a, she showed
t. ka
II have given you each $5 worth of chips.
You mad better count them to make sure.
Mrs. Green. will you please shuttle the
cards?'
Mrs. Green, the gray-haired member
of the party. removed the twrapper from
it on the floor. Then she shuffled the
cards with the skill OF a professional,
passed them over to the player at her
right to cut them, and finally dealt them.
All the players were Immediately deeply
engrossed in the game. There was no
conversation to speak of. the only garru-
lous woman in the party-a very pale.
auburn-haired woman-being shut off
! everv time she started to talk by remind
ers from the other women that she had
forgotten to ante or that it was her turn
to say what she proposed to do. The
most remarkable of all the women was a
very slight. ark-complexioned woman
| with very thin lips and sharp. straight
nose, who was addressed as Mrs Cardozo.
From the time she sat down until the
| close of the game she never said any
! thing that did not pertain directly to the
| game. Even when she bet she said moth
| ing. but placed her chips with a SOFT
cat-like motion in the center of the
| table. Her eyes never wandered from
her cards, except when she stole a quick
glance at the faces OF those who were
| playing against her. She was cool at
t1,n harf fny, l,tan
never concealed his cards more CONF plete-
| ly than she did.
| A gam bier would have called it very
quick game; that is, the cards were dealt
quickly and the bets were quickly made.
No time was wasted in tho consideration
of wnat might have happened had the
play been different. Mis-. Solomon play
ed the most daring game and Caruozo the
| most successful. At 4:30 the game was
| interrupted by the appearance of. Nellie,
| who came 10 announce that luncheon was
| served.
Come. dears," SAID Mrs. Solomon
with a sigh. well stop now for short
| time and have a little luncheon.'
A chorus of indignant objections greet
| ed this remark.
"Oh, pshawv' said Mrs. Green, "what
is the use of stopping now? The game is
Just getting interesting. We can eat any
That's what say" chimed in another
| and the winner, still true to her silence,
+, merely glanced GROSSLY at Mrs. Solomon.
| ooh, very we'll, - SAID Mrs. Soomon
] ''if you object, why we'll continue"
1 So tho game went on and there was no
| further interruption to the play until Mr..
| Solomon arrived at about 6 o'clock. He
looked into the room with quizzical
smile on his face and said sarcastically:
"Well, ladies. l am somewhat OF
gam bier myself but it's new one on me
to get SO infatuated as to sit playing all
| day. It's frightfully hot in here. Don't
you notice it?''
Don't interrupt u.s." said Mrs. Grevn
solemnly, we're in the middle of play
"Yes DEAR said Mrs. Solmoon with
out looking up from her cards, "do 60
away
Mr.. Solomon stood undecided for a
! moment, and then with grin went up
to his room. The play came to an end
when Mrs. Green. whJ had bet all her
pile of chips. threw down four fves and
raked in the pot. which had accumulate
under the spirited betting of herself,
Mrs. Solomon and Mrs. Cardozo. The last