The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1897-12-24

street. a central one. walled In by high |
houses. was all white. Multitudes OF |
cold stars shono In the blue-black purg-
"a sky.
The ruined man walked rapidly. re-
yolvlng desperate thoughts In his mind.
and was more than ever drawn to the
pistol box In his dressing case drawer
Suddenly he stopped. lie was con
frontod by heart-breaklng scene.
On stone bench. placed according
To the old-timo custom beside the
monumental door OF a palace. n little
girl OF or Z. barely covered by rag
god black frock. was sitting In the
snow She had gone to sleep there. In
spite OF the cold. In u painful attitude
Of utter WEAKNESS. with her poor lit
tie head aud shoulder propped In an
angle OF the Icy stone.
One Of her old shoes had fallen from
the foot which huns over and lay In the
snow.
Luclen de Hem felt mechanically for
his vest pocket. aud was suddenly re-
minded that moment before he had
not even found a forgotten franc, nor
a pourboiro for the valet
However. stirred by an instructive
pitt. ne approached the little girl, and
would perhaps have carried her In his
arms to give her night shelter, had
he not seen something shining In the
old shoe a. II lay In the snow.
Ito bent over. II was a gold louis.
Some charitable person. woman.
doubtless. In passing by this Christ
mas eve had seen the shoe In front
OF the sleeping child and had remem-
borod the touching legend. This gem
crous aims had been given so that the
little one might believe In the gifts o.
the holy child. aud In spite Of her dis.
treas retain some hope In the goodness
OF Providence.
A loulsl It meant mtay days Of
! plenty for the hcggar. aud Luclen was
about TO waken and tell her 30, when
he heard voice In hln ear. drawling,
thick voice. mumhllng:
Here are two days since have been
out OF the club, You can cut OF my
; nst II II does no, come out when the
clock strikes midnight"
Then the young man OF %. coming
; OF honest stock with magnificent mil
ltary record, never failing In honor
e this young man suddenly conceived 4
dreadful thought. fell prey to a wild
hyatericnl, monstroua desire ASSURING
! himself with one glance that the stree
was deserted he swiftly stopped. ad
? yanced trembling hand. and stole tn,
louis from the old shoe, with a wilt
+ rush he reached the club again. cleare,
2 the stairs In one lmpeluous rush. fun
: open the door OF the reeldng hall. AM
Q threw the gold piece on the gEen, jus
- tie clock ehlmed the first stroke O
u midnight.
10 IAN on III"
u Seventeen won.
with turn OF his hand he shove
= the 80 louis ON red.
Rcd won,
e lie left ~ louis on the same colo
Again II appeared. Three times he pu
d up the doubled stakes with the sam
d luck. There was now a great heap G
gold and bank notes In front OF hin
Q and he began frantlcally to SOW ther
IS broadcast over the table. Every con
n blnatlon favored him. The little iyor
n ball jumping about the divisions OF N
2, roulette seemed TO be magnetized
10 the gamblers gaze. and ohoyed H. |
x 10 plays no had recovered the fe
It thousand francs. his last resource. thl
he had lost early In the evening, II
a puntlng 200 or 800 louis at once i
9, would soon have far more than n
ID heritage he had fooled away.
y In his haste to play no had kcl
on ais heavy coat. aud the great pool
re- cts were already crammod with rol
of o. bank notes and gold pieces. lie no
g, had TO stun them into his inside poel
NJ cts. his vest and trouEcr pockets. h
NJ cigar case, his handkerchief ana @
he erythlng that could hold them. lie sd
played. Tie sim won; like mnatl
IL like drunken mani lie threw q
al gold anywhere on the table with dl
~ dalnful certainly.
rs In his heart a redhot iron was bur
ing; he thought only Of tho chi
is asleep In the snow; OF the little begs
RS he had robbed
n. "sho Is still there, OF course; CO
in tainly, she must he therol In mi
be ute, when Il strikes IL swear IL